Rather than choose among all these current meanings, we might begin by returning to the word from which they all evolved, the Middle English “professen,” to take vows. Professors do not deserve the title unless they are willing to take the time and make the effort to openly affirm something beyond their data.
除了在这些现行的含义中选择外，我们还可以从回归这一名词最初的意义开始，即中古英语的“professen”，意思是宣誓。除非教授们愿意花时间公开地肯定一些超越其研究数据的东西，否则他们就配不上这一头衔。