英语词源
What is the origin of the term ‘pros and cons’?
短语pros and cons的由来
The phrase ‘pros and cons’ is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase pro et contra, ‘for and against’, and has been in use in the abbreviated form since the 16th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
短语pros and cons表示支持某事物、命题、论题等的推理和考虑，这是拉丁短语pro et contra的缩写，表示“for the against”。根据《牛津英语辞典》（The Oxford English Dictionary，简称OED）自16世纪以来一直以缩写形式使用。
‘Pros and cons’ is a well-established standard usage; Oxford’s larger dictionaries do not mark it as ‘informal’ or in any way restricted in use. The much longer alternative is the phrase ‘arguments for and against’.
Pros and cons是一个公认的标准用法，牛津辞典并未将其标记为非正式或受限用法。更完整的替代短语可以是arguments for and against。
