单词 | 很难相信 |
释义 | 〔cushy〕Sincecushy has such an informal, breezy, American ring, it is difficult to believe that it is an import, as some etymologists claim.Members of the British army in India are supposed to have picked up the Anglo-Indian version of the Hindi word±hūush, meaning "pleasant,” to which the suffix-y, as in empty and sexy, was added, thus forming a new English word. Cushy, however, is actually first recorded in a letter from the European battlefront during World War I. This fact, in conjunction with our inability to find an Anglo-Indian source,casts some doubt on the Hindi or Anglo-Indian origin ofcushy. Two other possibilities are thatcushy is a shortening of cushion with the -y suffix or that it is a borrowing of Frenchcouchée, "lying down; a bed.” 既然cushy 一词具有如此非正式的、愉快的美国意义, 很难相信某些词源学者所认为的说它是一个外来词。驻印度的英国军队士兵被认为是选用了印度英语±hūush 的英语说法,意思是“愉悦的”, 并如同empty 和 sexy 等词在其上加了 -y 这个后缀,从而形成了一个新英语单词。 然而,事实上cushy 一词却最先被记录在第一次世界大战期间发自欧洲战斗前线的一封信里。 这一事实,再加上我们无法找到其印度英语的词源,使我们对于cushy 一词源于印地语或印度英语的说法产生了某些怀疑。 另两种可能性,一种是cushy ,它是 cushion 的缩略形式再加上后缀 -y ; 另一种是法语couchee “躺下;床”的外来语 〔hassle〕It is difficult to believe that there were no hassles before 1945,but that is the year in which the nounhassle is first recorded in English. The origins of this word might be considered a hassle for the etymologist.An English dialect word,hassle, meaning "to hack at, cut with a blunt knife and with a sawing motion,” is recorded at the end of the 19th century.A Southern dialect word,hassle, "to pant, breathe heavily,” is also a possible source. A more popular notion has been thathassle is a blend, but here again we have a hassle.Three separate possibilities have been proposed,a combination ofh ar ass and hu stle, ha ggle and tu ssle, and ha ggle and wre stle. Given all these possibilities,it is clear why words such ashassle end up with the etymology "origin unknown.” 很难相信1945年以前没有麻烦这个词,但就在那一年hassle 这个名词第一次被记录在英语中。 词源学家认为这个词的来源是争吵。一个英语方言词hassle 的意思是“砍,用一个钝的刀锯”, 在19世纪被记录下来。一个南部的方言词hassle “喘气,重呼吸”也可能是它的来源。 但更普遍的是认为hassle 是一个合成词, 但我们对此又有了异议。词源学家提出的三种不同的可能性:h ar ass 与hu stle的结合、ha ggle与tu ssle 的结合和 ha ggle与wre stle 的结合。 尽管有这么多的可能性,但很显然,象hassle 这样的词仍“无源可溯” |
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