单词 | 英国方言 |
释义 | 〔clever〕In the 17th and 18th centuries,in addition to its basic sense of "able to use the brain readily and effectively,” the wordclever acquired a constellation of imprecise but generally positive senses in regional British speech: "clean-limbed and handsome,” "neat and convenient to use,” and "of an agreeable disposition.”Some of these British regional senses, brought over when America was colonized,are still found in American regional speech,as in the South, whereclever can mean "good-natured, amiable,” in old-fashioned speech. The speech of New England extends the meaning "good-natured" to animalsin the specific sense of "easily managed, docile.”Perhaps it was the association with animals that gave rise to another meaning, "affable but not especially smart,”applicable to people when used in old-fashioned New England dialects.在17和18世纪时,clever 一词除了其基本含义“能够轻松、有效地用脑”外,还在英国方言中具有大量不准确但明确的含义, “身材匀称且英俊倜傥”、“整洁有序且便于使用”和“令人愉快的个性”。英国方言中的一部分含义是美国被殖民统治时传播开来,在美国方言中至今仍然可见,如在南部的旧式方言中,clever 可以表示“脾气好的、和蔼的”。 新英格兰方言把“脾气好的”意思拓展到动物,表示“易于管理的、温驯的”的特定含义。可能因其与动物有关而导致另一含义“友善但不是特别机敏”的产生,适用于使用旧式新英格兰方言的人〔quiz〕Although we do not know the origin of the wordquiz, just as we may not know the answers to all the questions on a quiz,we can say that its first recorded sense has to do with people,not tests.The term, first recorded in 1782,meant "an odd or eccentric person.”From the noun in this sense came a verbmeaning "to make sport or fun of" and "to regard mockingly.”In English dialects and probably in American Englishthe verbquiz acquired senses relating to interrogation and questioning. This presumably occurredbecausequiz was associated with question, inquisitive, or perhaps the English dialect verb quiset, "to question" (probably itself short for obsoleteinquisite, "to investigate"). From this new area of meaning came the noun and verb senses all too familiar to students.The second recorded instance of the noun sense occurs in the writings of no less an educator than William James,who in a December 26, 1867, letter proffers the hopethat "perhaps giving ‘quizzes’ in anatomy and physiology . . . may help along.”虽然我们不知道quiz 这个词的来源, 正象我们可能并不清楚测试中所有问题的答案一样,但我们可以肯定的是这个词最初被记录时的意义与人有关,而不是测试,这个词第一次被记录下来是在1782年,意思为“一个古怪或行为怪诞的人”。从这种意义的名词派生出一个动词,意思为“嘲笑或戏弄…”和“以嘲讽的态度对待”。在英语并且很可能是在美国英语中,quiz 这个动词形成了有关审问或提问的意思, 据猜测,这一现象的发生是因为quiz 使人联想起 question , inquisitive 或者可能 quiset 这个英国方言中的动词, 意思为“提问”(很可能是inquisite 这个过时用语的缩写形式,意思为“调查”)。 从这个意思中派生出学生们再熟悉不 过的名词和动词意思。记录下这个名词意义的第二个例子恰好出现在教育家威廉·詹姆斯的笔下。在1867年12月26日写的一封信中,他提出一条希望:或许在解剖学和物理学方面进行测试…可能有些独特的帮助。”〔geezer〕A relationship with a word we know well is disguised in the wordgeezer. A clue to this relationship is found in British dialect.TheEnglish Dialect Dictionary defines geezer as "a queer character, a strangely-acting person,” and refers the reader toguiser, "a mummer, masquerader.” The citations forguiser refer to practices such as the following: "People, usually children . . . go about on Christmas Eve, singing, wearing masks, or otherwise disguised,”the last word of this passage being the one to whichgeezer is related. 我们非常了解的与一个单词的联系即在于单词geezer 。 这种联系的线索发现于英国方言中。英语方言辞典 定义 geezer 为“一个奇怪的人,一个行为怪异的人”, 并且让读者参考guiser, “化妆舞会,假面舞会”。 guiser 的例句指出了一些活动, 例如:“大人,通常是孩子…戴着面具或以其他化妆方式在圣诞前夜走出去唱歌。”这段文章的最后一个单词即是geezer 与之有关的那一个 〔doodle〕One might wonder what, if any, connection exists amongYankee Doodle, a doodlebug, and the doodle that one draws when one is bored or abstracted. The worddoodle in the latter two uses may come from a Low German word meaning "fool.”"Fool,” the first (and now probably obsolete) sense of the worddoodle to be recorded in English (1628),would seem naturally to have been used inYankee Doodle, the name of a tune composed in 1755 to mock the American colonists. However, the origin ofDoodle in this expression is unknown; it may be fromtootle, because the piece was apparently composed originally for flute or fife.In the case ofdoodlebug, it is thought that doodle, meaning "simpleton,” is the first part of the insect name.The sense "absent-minded scrawl" may come directly from the sense "fool"or from a British dialectal verb, meaning "to cheat, fritter time away,”that was derived from the noun sense "fool.”人们也许会问YonkeeDoodle, doodlebug, 和意思为心不在焉地乱涂的 doodle 之间有无联系。 单词doodle 在后两种用法中大概来自低地德语中, 意思为“傻瓜”的一个单词。“傻瓜”,doodle 的第一含义(现在可能已不再用), 英文记载是在1628年,被用在1755年谱成的用来讽刺美国殖民者的曲子YankeeDoodle 中。 然而,在该表达中Doodle 的词源尚不清楚; 也许来自tootle, 因为该曲原本很明显是用笛子或横笛演奏的。在doodlebug 中, doodle 被认为意思为“傻瓜”, 是昆虫名的第一部分。“心不在焉地乱涂”可能直接来自“傻瓜”,或者来自英国方言动词,意为“欺骗,打发时间”的,这个动词来源于名词“傻瓜”〔Wright〕British lexicographer and philologist who is best known forThe English Dialect Dictionary (1905). 莱特,约瑟夫:(1855-1930) 英国词典编纂者和语言学家,他以《英国方言词典》 (1905年)而闻名于世 |
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