| 释义 |
ˈdie-hard, n. and a.
[from the phrase to die hard: see die v.1 3.]
A. adj. That dies hard, resisting to the last. Cf. sense B. 2.
1922Weekly Dispatch 5 Nov. 1/1 The splitting away of the great masses of the Conservative Party—of the Die-hard section. 1923E. A. Ross Russian Soviet Republ. 395 The die-hard Tories. 1955Times 19 May 10/1 There were also some diehard Mau Mau leaders who were doing everything in their power to prevent their followers from giving themselves up. 1971Internat. Affairs (Moscow) Apr. 39/2 Diehard British chauvinism, rich with anti-Sovietism, was expressed back in October 1970, when the Conservative Party held its first conference..after it came to power.
B. n.
1. One that dies hard; spec. an appellation of the 57th Regiment of Foot in the British Army.
1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. x. (1855) 100 The Die-hards (57th regiment). 1856J. W. Cole Brit. Gen. Penins. War I. v. 200 note. 1871Standard 28 Jan., Ducrot, who is a good die-hard general of brigade. 1871Daily News 1 Feb., Some 20,000 die-hards are determined to get up into that keep and hold out for a spell longer. 1892W. R. Lluellyn in Dict. Nat. Biog. XXIX. 8/1 At Albuera the 57th occupied a position as important as it was deadly. ‘Die hard! 57th’, said Inglis, ‘die hard!’ They obeyed, and the regiment is known as the ‘Die-hards’ to this day.
2. A person who is extremely conservative, stubborn, or irreconcilable, esp. on a political or other issue; spec. (a) one of those who were prepared to ‘die in the last ditch’ in their resistance to the Home Rule Bill of 1912; (b) one of those members of the Conservative Party who followed the leadership of the Marquess of Salisbury in 1922. Also transf.
1857Hughes Tom Brown i. v. 114 They [sc. Rugby football players] are ‘the fighting brigade’, the ‘die-hards’ larking about at leap-frog..and playing tricks on one another. 1912Tatler 9 Oct. 32a (caption) One of the ‘Die-hards’. Lord Willoughby de Broke speaking recently at Ballyroney against Home Rule for Ireland. 1920Studies June 197 The heroes of Marathon were conservative ‘diehards’: the modern Athenian..was a Socialist or Spartacist. 1922Times 18 Oct. 14/2 Diehards demand freedom. Lord Salisbury on Coalition. 1922Daily Mail 25 Oct. 10 Mr. Chamberlain said: Politics have many vicissitudes. A few days ago I was orthodox; to-day I am a ‘Die-hard’. Ibid 3 Nov. 13 Die hard, the section of Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who were hostile to Mr. Lloyd George's Premiership and Home Rule. 1927A. T. Hagg Labour Community Song Bk. 6 The Tory Die-hards in their clubs They sing this plaintive song. 1957New Yorker 29 June 60/2 The few million white Algerian French citizens, who the diehards declare must not be abandoned. 1963F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax I. iv. 365 It would seem to have been a linguistic die-hard.
3. The Scottish terrier.
1900Westm. Gaz. 9 July 3/1 To anyone in doubt as to a suitable dog to take up as household guard or companion the Scottish terrier, often called the ‘Die-hard’, or Aberdeen terrier, and the Dandie Dinmont, immortalised by Sir Walter Scott, are strongly recommended. 1921Melbourne Argus 13 Sept. 5 The name ‘Die-Hards’ has been given to the well-known black or brindle Scottish terrier.
Hence die-hardism |ˈdaɪhɑːdɪz(ə)m|, the principles, tenets, or spirit of a die-hard.
1922Glasgow Herald 8 Mar. 8 If the atmosphere of cooperation can be created, ‘die-hardism’ will be painlessly asphyxiated. 1923Ibid. 28 July 8 There is a core of ‘die-hardism’ in all sincerely held convictions, and its language does not consist only of ‘outworn shibboleths’. 1926Manch. Guardian Weekly Sept. 181/1 Mr. Churchill has reversed his former die-hardism and struck out boldly. 1934A. J. Toynbee Study Hist. III. 77 The most remarkable feat of Spartan ‘Diehardism’ was the attempt of the Royal Martyrs..to reclothe the dry bones of the ‘Lycurgean’ system in flesh. |