| 释义 |
second-guess, v. colloq. (orig. and chiefly N. Amer.).|ˌsɛkəndˈgɛs, ˈsɛkəndgɛs|
[Prob. back-formation from next.]
1. trans. To anticipate the action of (a person), to out-guess; to predict or foresee (an event), to apprehend (simultaneously or beforehand) by guess-work.
1941Broadcasting 22 Dec. 11/2 Do not try to second-guess or master-mind our military officials. Leave this for established military analysts and experts, who are experienced enough to await the facts before drawing conclusions. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §646/2 Predict the outcome [of a sporting event].., second-guess. Ibid. §733/7 ‘Dope the races.’ (To figure out or prophesy probable results from past performances &c.).., second-guess. 1963‘R. L. Pike’ Mute Witness viii. 137 Desperate people get panicky, and I never try to second-guess panicky people. 1974Globe & Mail (Toronto) 22 Oct. 7/5 Any attempt to second-guess the economics of the situation to the end of the decade and beyond is a hazardous and probably futile task. 1976Publishers Weekly 29 Mar. 49/2 Just when you think you've second-guessed [the author] WS, he turns the tables on you. 1980Sci. Amer. Feb. 68/3 A mechanism by which his world-class backgammon program will develop a profile of an opponent's over-all playing style so that it can second-guess his moves and play accordingly.
2. To subject (a person or his action, esp. a decision) to criticism after the result of the action is known; to judge, question, or reconsider by hindsight. Also refl. and absol. or intr.
1946[implied in second-guessing vbl. n. below]. 1950Sun (Baltimore) 27 Jan. 2/8 Second-guessing the conduct of Pacific war, Admiral Frederick C. Sherman points..to a whole series of lost chances. 1951Ibid. 28 Sept. (B ed.) 17/7 We lost 11 in a row and I still get nightmares thinking about some of those games. I'm still second guessing myself on some of them. 1955Galaxy Sci. Fiction Apr. 86/2 They say that a century or so ago..there were only about five billion [people]. But anyone can second-guess that. 1965H. Waugh End of Party x. 72 ‘They should have called the police,’ Avery growled... Fellows said with a shrug. ‘It's always easy to second-guess.’ 1974M. Hoyt Thirty Miles for Ice Cream x. 126 We second-guessed that the spot where I went through [the ice] had been sheltered. 1978J. Krantz Scruples viii. 223 Even Billy's New York lawyers approved, because Josh Hillman was an exceedingly brilliant lawyer... He protected Billy's interests without trying to second-guess their own, far more informed, decisions. 1980Daily Tel. 4 Jan. 3/3 He had pointed out the defect [in the manufacture of a car] to Sir Michael, who had replied in a cavalier manner, saying it was not his job to ‘second-guess’ his designers.
Hence ˌsecond-ˈguessing vbl. n. (usu. in sense 2).
1946Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 26 Dec. 12/1 Pate, in naming Jake Kramer and Ted Schroeder as the entire United States Davis Cup team,..left himself wide-open to what could be the greatest second-guessing attack of many years. 1963Life 9 Aug. 44/3 The besetting sin of the theater is second-guessing, trying to anticipate what the public wants and what will be commercially sound. 1981Washington Post 25 Feb. e 7/3 As Dennie walked back to the jocks' room, the Instructor couldn't resist a bit of second-guessing. ‘I told you to stay on the rail,’ he said. |