say: [OE] Say is part of a widespread Germanic family of ‘say’-verbs, which also contains German sagen, Dutch zeggen, Swedish säga, and Danish sige. These point back to a common Germanic ancestor *sagjan, which was descended from the Indo-European base *seq-. This originally signified ‘point out’, but evolved to ‘say’, and it also lies behind Lithuanian sakýti, Latvian sacīt, Welsh eb, and Latin inquit, all of which mean ‘say’. => saga, saw
say (v.)
Old English secgan "to utter, inform, speak, tell, relate," from Proto-Germanic *sagjanan (cognates: Old Saxon seggian, Old Norse segja, Danish sige, Old Frisian sedsa, Middle Dutch segghen, Dutch zeggen, Old High German sagen, German sagen "to say"), from PIE *sokwyo-, from root *sekw- (3) "to say, utter" (cognates: Hittite shakiya- "to declare," Lithuanian sakyti "to say," Old Church Slavonic sociti "to vindicate, show," Old Irish insce "speech," Old Latin inseque "to tell say").
Past tense said developed from Old English segde. Not attested in use with inanimate objects (clocks, signs, etc.) as subjects before 1930. You said it "you're right" first recorded 1919; you can say that again as a phrase expressing agreement is recorded from 1942, American English. You don't say (so) as an expression of astonishment (often ironic) is first recorded 1779, American English.
say (n.)
"what someone says," 1570s, from say (v.). Meaning "right or authority to influence a decision" is from 1610s. Extended form say-so is first recorded 1630s. Compare Old English secge "speech."
实用例句
1. All this, needless to say, had been culled second-hand from radio reports.
不用说，所有这些都是从电台报道中采集来的二手材料。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The deal seems so attractive it would be ridiculous to say no.
这笔交易看上去太诱人了，要是拒绝它简直是笑话。
来自柯林斯例句
3. People always think I'm a fool, and I dare say they're right.
人们总认为我是个傻瓜，想必他们是对的。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He won his first Derby on the aptly named "Never Say Die".
他驾驭着这匹名副其实的“永不言败”夺得了他的第一个德比马赛冠军。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Politicians say it could lead to a dissolution of parliament.
