not: [14] In Old English and early Middle English the simple particle ne was used for making negative sentences. But it was evidently often felt to be in need of some reinforcement, for purposes of emphasis, and to do this job noht was brought in. Ancestor of modern English nought [OE], it was a compound formed from ne and ōwiht ‘anything’ (precursor of archaic modern English ought).
By the end of the 13th century this was being widely used as the sole negator in sentences, the ne having been dispensed with, and we soon find spellings reflecting the sort of reduction in pronunciation from nought to not that one would expect from its often weakly-stressed position. => nought, ought
negative particle, mid-13c., unstressed variant of noht, naht "in no way" (see naught). As an interjection to negate what was said before or reveal it as sarcasm, it is first attested 1900; popularized 1989 by "Wayne's World" sketches on "Saturday Night Live" TV show. To not know X from Y (one's ass from one's elbow, shit from Shinola, etc.) was a construction first attested c. 1930. Double negative construction not un- was derided by Orwell, but is persistent and ancient in English, popular with Milton and the Anglo-Saxon poets.
双语例句
1. In conversational English " is not " often contracts to " isn't ".
口头英语中is not 常缩写为 isn ‘ t.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. Success is not guaranteed. It is not handed to you. Success is earned.
成功无法保证，并非唾手可得。成功必须靠自己去争取。
来自美剧《摩登家庭》
3. Do not wait for good things to happen to you. You need to walk towards happiness.
不要等待好事降临，你要向幸福进发。
来自金山词霸 每日一句
4. The happiest are not those who own all the best things, but those who can appreciate the beauty of life.
最幸福的人们并不一定什么都是最好，只是他们懂得欣赏生活的美好。
来自金山词霸 每日一句
5. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.--Winston Churchill
