每日一词学英语(20): phase out

有一条消息不知道大家注意过没有，伯明翰市政府从今年1月起，在街道标牌上不再使用标点符号“'”(apostrophe)。缘起是很多人一直在争论“Kings Norton”应该是“King's(国王的)”还是“Kings'(国王们的)”，把市政府的人整得头都大了；还有人说，现在没有King(只有Queen)，所以“King's”和“Kings'”都不合适。于是决定干脆废掉这个撇号。

Martin Mullaney, a councillor who chairs the city's transportation scrutiny committee, pointed out that Birmingham had been quietly phasing out apostrophes since the 1950s. However, he admitted that the new official city-wide policy would distress many residents.
Martin Mullaney说，其实伯明翰从上世纪五十年代就悄无声息地开始一步步废除撇号了。

Phase out意思是'to remove or relinquish the use of something little by little'.
Leaded petrol was phased out in the course of the 1990s.
从上世纪九十年代开始逐步不再使用含铅汽油。

Obama: Time To Phase Out Combat Role In Iraq
从伊拉克分阶段撤兵也可以用这个词。

撇号在伯明翰正在淡出(phase out)，而争议(详见网上报道及专栏作家的文章)还在继续......