In the eyes of many, pragmatic inference has often been seen as a subject that defies formal characterizations and is describable only in non-formal, sometimes metaphorical terms.
许多语用学家认为语用推理无法用形式系统来刻画，只能用非形式的甚至是隐喻性的语汇来描述。
2
Masking of a non-metaphorical kind is a different matter, its significance transcending an art historian's tinkering with chance effects of chronology and national origin.