- 1權宜、便宜行事（為了方便或利益而做，明知不完全正當）。常見搭配「政治權宜之計」political expediency。跟「效率」無關，重點在「不擇手段圖方便」的那層貶意。
Expediency is choosing what works fastest or most right now, instead of what is right. The word carries a quiet criticism. When someone says 'the decision was made out of expediency' or 'political expediency', they are saying: it got the job done, it solved their problem, and it was not honest. That gap between useful and right is the whole meaning of the word — if there were no gap, you would just say 'a practical decision'. It is an uncountable, formal word, at home in newspapers, and business writing. You will see 'political expediency' more often than any other pairing. The related word 'expedient' works as an adjective ('it was expedient to say nothing') and as a noun ('a temporary expedient' — a quick fix that will do for now). There is an older, cleaner sense in which expediency simply means suitability or advantage, with no blame attached, and you may meet it in older books; but in today's writing, when you read 'expediency', look for the blame. Note also that expediency and expedience are the same word with two spellings, and both are correct.
組成從 expedient（權宜的）+ -cy（抽象名詞字尾）。追到底是拉丁文 expedīre，字面是「把腳解開」——ex（出去）+ pes（腳），本來指讓被絆住的腳脫身，所以有「掃除障礙、快速解決」的意味。
同家族的字
- expedientthe adjective/noun it comes from — useful right now, not necessarily right
- expeditionsame Latin expedīre — a journey got moving, feet freed to travel
- expeditioussame root — done quickly, obstacles cleared
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
expediencynoun/ɛkˈspiː.dɪ.ən.si/
- 1
The quality of being fit or suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended; suitability for particular circumstance or situation.
- Imperfet governments […] may palliate crimes upon the plea of necessity or expediency; divine wisdom discovers no expediency in vice; […]
- Much declamation may be heard in the present day against “expediency”, as if it were not the proper object of a Deliberative Assembly, and as if it were only pursued by the unprincipled.
- 2
Pursuit of the course of action that brings the desired effect even if it is unjust or unprincipled.
- Utterly neglectful of what he owes to the kingdom which he hopes to regain, Charles has learned but adversity's worst lesson—expediency.
- Others warned the British government’s approach would be imitated, for political expediency, by authorities elsewhere.
- 3
obsoleteHaste; dispatch.
- 4
An expedient.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。