A Stylistic Appendix

 
 
 
 
Registers are a blind spot of traditional Mandarin lexicography.

Through a general unfamiliarity with the literature of the Republican period, for many everyday objects often the only expression that exists in the lexicographer’s idiolect is a colloquialism.

A word can also become associated with careless writers, including

  1. bureaucrats who exaggerate whatever they do;
  2. writers who didn’t master Mandarin before they start publishing;
  3. writers who borrow from Japanese in abundance due to (2);
  4. writers who translate English terminology in broken Mandarin due to (2).

 

Non-UWord ClassColloquialLiteraryNote
測查verb 調查 etc.When no equipment is involved, 測查 is cheap hyperbole that’s meant to sound scientific.
崇高adjective  now mostly used sarcastically due to its political overtones
詞化noun 成詞詞化 is a careless translation of lexicalisation.
詞彙化noun 成詞solecism; see s.v. 詞彙(1).
 noun撣子 etc.塵拂 
典藏verb收藏 所有 etc.庋藏典藏 is cheap hyperbole.
調研verb  officialese
動因noun 原因 條件動因 is an affected way of saying 原因; from Japanese.
共現noun 搭配共現 is a careless (literal) translation of co-occurrence.
架藏verb 庋藏架藏 is Japanese, not Chinese.
 verb講說 etc.Using 講 where 說 or another more formal word can be substituted is a telltale sign of unedited prose.
 adverb降半旗 etc.半旗 
精品noun  officialese
(不)科學adjective (不)準確a loose use of 科學
 postposition(從⋯)-來看(從⋯)-看 
老師noun 先生 女士 etc. 
離開verb 死 
連續統noun 連續體 etc.-統 is non-transparent & a sign of mindless parroting.
女史noun 女士 
爬梳verb 梳理See s.v. 耙梳.
前揭adjective 前述-揭 is faux-classical; from Japanese.
人工流產verb打胎墮胎 
潤筆noun潤筆費  
上揭adjective 上述-揭 is faux-classical; from Japanese.
氏著adjective  faux-classical
受容noun 反響/吸納 etc.Even in Japanese, 受容 is an inadequate translation of ‘reception’.
文章noun 本文 etc.Some abstract writers use this officialese to achieve an impersonal tone.
研判verb  officialese
硬傷noun差錯紕繆 
再有adverb再者 > 再有就是再則 
在在adverb 處處在在 is an affected archaism.
指出(2)verb說認爲 etc.The fact that you have to assert the subject’s authority means he doesn’t have it. Huang suggests communist origin, but 指出(2) s.v. shows it’s late-Ch’ing officialese.