We will no longer accept proposals as of May 15.
Note: In North America“as of”is what is commonly said, and a Google search shows“ as of” to have more than eight times as many responses as“as at. ”
And so dear BizWritingTip reader, you can tell your office that you are correct in this particular instance.
Regards,
Jane Watson
Trainer, Consultant, Speaker
Author of Business Writing Basics, The Minute Taker's Handbook, and BizWritingTip 一 Grammar Collection 1.
但觀察as of在實際文本中的用法,發(fā)現(xiàn)該短語除了表達上述含義之外,還有別的意思。例如,本課所引用的文獻資料就有這樣的話:
The report must also "contain an assessment, as of the end of the most recent fiscal year of the Company, of the effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures of the issuer for financial reporting."
根據(jù)上下文以及調查所得資料,assessment是在公司財政年度末做的,因此,這里的as of意思是at或者as at,隱含的意思是這個評估結果僅限于上個財政年度末的情況,之后可能會變化。嚴格地說,as of在這里的用法是錯誤的。
濫用As of造成的理解混亂,可以從下面的討論看出:
Question: Which is correct?
In Dr. Smith's report, he said John had headaches as at the time of writing.
In Dr. Smith's report on John, he said John had headaches as of the time of writing.
Ray: ‘ at’. The terms‘ as of’,‘ as at’are ambiguous and best avoided completely.