| 释义 |
dingbat slang.|ˈdɪŋbæt|
Also ding bat, ding-bat.
[? f. ding v.1 + bat n.2]
1. U.S. In various uses (see quots.); esp. (a) a piece of money; pl. money; (b) = thingummy (cf. dingus); (c) a tramp or hobo.
1838in Amer. Speech (1963) XXXVIII. 10 We can take a ‘Quaker’ before we start—apply a ‘Ding Bat’ [some kind of drink?] at Providence. 1861in Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4, 1877) 177 It has been found necessary to expend the dingbats, to put something more substantial on the ‘fly’ [= in motion]. 1864G. A. Sala in Daily Tel. 19 Oct., Little John, erst a hog-driver..and recently in trouble for manufacturing bogus ‘dingbats’. Ibid. 1 Nov., I paid for my Kissingen in five-cent ‘dingbat’ or ‘spondulick’—two of the many names given to the fractional currency. 1877Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4) 177 Dingbat, a bat of wood that may be thrown (dinged); a piece of money; a cannon-ball; a bullet. 1895Dialect Notes I. 387 Dingbat. Mr. Philip Hale, of the Boston Journal, has been collecting information..concerning this word. The following definitions appear:—(1) Balls of dung on buttocks of sheep or cattle. (2) Blow or slap on the buttocks. (3) Flying missile. (4) Squabble of words or pushing. (5) Money. (6) In some of the N.E. schools, the word is student slang for various kinds of muffins or biscuit. (7) Affectionate embrace of mothers hugging and kissing their children. (8) Term of admiration. ‘They are regular ding-bats’ (speaking of girls). 1918‘A No. 1’ Mother Delcasse of Hoboes 44 Stew Bum..Ding Bat..Fuzzy Tail..the dregs of vagrantdom. 1923Frontier May 10 That blasted ‘ding bat’ of a Ford, as Stub calls it, just naturally stood on its hind legs..and turned a flip-flop. 1926J. Black You can't Win vi. 65 If you was some kind of a rank dingbat you wouldn't have been invited down here. 1931J. Thurber Owl in Attic ii. 78 It is sitting on a strange and almost indescribable sort of iron dingbat. 1944F. Brown Angels & Spaceships (1955) 208 It was his dingbat. I mean, he made it and he thought he knew what it was.
2. a. A foolish or stupid person; someone crazy or insane; also used as a general term of disparagement. Chiefly U.S.
[1911Dialect Notes III. 542 Dingbatty, half crazy, imbecile. ‘That fellow is dingbatty.’] 1915Dialect Notes IV. 203 Dingbat, a fool. ‘The boss called Ralph a dingbat because he made fun of him.’ 1935N. Ersine Underworld & Prison Slang 32 Dingbat, a screwy person; a stircrazy convict. 1950H. E. Goldin Dict. Amer. Underworld Lingo 58/2 Dingbat, a fool; a worthless fellow. 1957‘N. Culotta’ They're a Weird Mob (1958) ii. 29 ‘Who is ut?’ Some ding bat after that job... He sounds a bit crackers to me. 1971Newsweek 29 Nov. 52 A rising tide of..weirdos, dumb Polacks, dingbats, meatheads, and four-eyes. 1978J. Irving World according to Garp ii. 41 Midge was such a dingbat..that she went to Hawaii for a vacation during World War II. 1982S. B. Flexner Listening to Amer. 282 By 1940 dingbat also meant a stupid person, especially a dumb girl or woman; this meaning was popularized in the 1970s TV situation comedy series All in the Family, whose lovable, bumbling, narrow-minded character Archie Bunker called his wife dingbat. 1985N.Y. Times 13 Jan. ii. 3/2 Miss Sternhagen's mother increases in giddiness, even to wearing what appears to be a feather in her hair. She is, in fact, a certifiable dingbat.
b. Austral. and N.Z. In pl., esp. in phr. to have the dingbats, to be dingbats, to be mad, stupid, eccentric; also, to be a victim of delirium tremens; to give (a person) the ding-bats, to inflict a feeling of nervous discomfort.
1918Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 27 Sept. 109/2 'Ave you got the dingbats? 1926J. Devanny Butcher Shop x. 96 George, 'e 'ad the dingbats. 1933L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch) 14 Oct. 15/7 Dingbats. Slang, of Australian origin, for delirium tremens. The dingbats, I believe, are really the snakes, weasels, etc., which a sufferer sees. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 221/2 Dingbats, eccentric; mad, gen. slightly: Australian military. 1943F. Sargeson in Penguin New Writing XVIII. 71, I knew it would give me the dingbats if I just stayed on there waiting. 1945Southern Cross (London) 15 Dec. 4/3 Even old George, used as he was to pink snakes, ding-bats, and spotted elephants, seemed a little surprised. 1949Landfall III. 146 Your mother's dingbats. 1959G. Slatter Gun in Hand iv. 42 Boozin' again! You'll end up with the dingbats, you will.
3. Austral. [Perh. f. dingo + batman2.] An army batman.
1919in Downing Digger Dial. 1940Bulletin (Sydney) 3 Jan. 35/3 There is a vast difference between a dingbat in the British Army and one in the A.I.F.
Add:[1.] (d) Printing (orig. U.S.). Any ornamental piece of type; esp. a typographical device other than a letter or numeral (e.g. a rule, asterisk), used for visual effect.
1921G. M. Hyde Handbk. Newspaper Workers xi. 173 Dingbats, heavy, wavy pieces of cut-off rule sometimes used beneath banner headlines. Also applies to any ornament. 1971F. K. Baskette Art of Editing xvi. 360 A magazine page usually has..a block of text, usually beginning with a typographical device that..may be a dingbat such as a black square followed by a few words in all-capital letters. 1989PC World 24 July 42/2 Like the [Zapf] Dingbats face, these symbols are scattered throughout the QWERTY keys. |