Hi, Prof. Zheng，
I have looked up the phrases "miss sb" and "miss the old days" in the dictionaries (i.e. Oxford Learner's & Cambridge Dictionary) , both of them define the verb "miss" as feeling sad about the fact that a person/thing is not present. They also both give these entries as an example:
- Anne, who died on 15, November, will be sadly missed by all who knew her.
- "She sadly missed the old days.
My question is:
How do "sadly" & "missed" go together if "missed" includes "sad" in its definition?
This leads me to think that "to miss" has a somewhat different meaning than sad. Am I correct in this?
Warm regards,
Leo
嗨，郑教授好！
我在字典（即牛津学习者和剑桥字典）中查找了短语“想念某人”和“怀念过去”，它们都将动词“想念”定义为对某个人/事物的不存在而感到悲伤。它们还以这些条目为例：
- 安妮于11月15日去世，所有认识她的人都将悲伤地怀念她。
- 她悲伤地怀念过去的日子。
我的问题是:
如果“miss”在其定义中包含“悲伤”，那么“悲伤”和“miss”如何搭配？这让我觉得“miss”和“悲伤”的含义有些不同。我说的对吗？
亲切问候，
Leo
~~~~~~
Dear Leo,
Thank you for raising such an interesting question. I think the use of "sadly" was not intended as limiting, but rather descriptive of ONE way to describe the feeling of 'missing' someone or something. Missing in English, referring to the loss of a person, animal, event, etc. simply means to long for them or it. Sadness typically accompanies this longing when dealing with people, pets, but not always other things. "She missed the old days." is likely a feeling of nostalgia, which is not necessarily sadness. Often, that feeling is a fondness that comes from a memory of something that is gone.
亲爱的Leo：
谢谢你提出这么有趣的问题。我认为“miss”的使用并不是为了限制，而是描述一种“想念”某人或某事的感觉的方式。英语中的Missing指的是人、动物、事件等的损失，意思是对它们或它的渴望。当与人、宠物打交道时，悲伤通常伴随着这种渴望，但不总是与其他事情打交道。“她怀念过去的日子。”很可能是一种怀旧的感觉，这不一定是悲伤。通常，这种感觉是一种喜爱，来自于对逝去的事物的或美好，或伤感的记忆。
I'd like to say you are correct in suspecting a difference of meaning, but it lies with "sadly" but not "miss". In fact, sadly sometimes means very much and in a way that makes you sad. Now please look at the following two sentences:
- She will be sadly (very much )missed.
- If you think I'm going to help you again, you're sadly (= completely) mistaken.
我想说的是，你对意思不同的怀疑是正确的，但这取决于“sadly”，而不是“miss”这个词。事实上，悲伤有时意味着很多，并且在某种程度上让你感到悲伤。现在请看以下两句话：
- 人们将非常想念她。（sadly=very much）
- 如果你认为我会再次帮助你，那你就大错特错了。(sadly=completely)
Thank you, Leo.
Regards,
Zheng
via 郑新民谈英语教学与研究
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