| 释义 |
donkey|ˈdɒŋkɪ|
Also 8–9 donky.
[A recent word, app. of dialect or slang origin.
As the original pronunciation apparently rimed with monkey (whence the spelling), suggestions have been made that the word is a deriv. of dun adj. (cf. dunnock hedge-sparrow), or, more probably, a familiar form of Duncan (cf. the other colloquial appellations, Dicky, Neddy).]
1. a. A familiar name for the ass. (Now in general use, exc. in scriptural or solemn language, and in Natural History.)
1785Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Donkey or Donkey Dick, a he or Jack-ass. 1793Gentl. Mag. ii. 1083 A Donky, or a Dicky, An ass. Essex and Suffolk. 1804Mrs. Barbauld Wks. (1825) II. 113, I cannot tell whether my orthography is right, but a donky is the monture in high fashion here [Tunbridge Wells]. a1819Wolcott (P. Pindar) Wks. (1830) 116 Peter, thou art mounted on a Neddy; Or in the London phrase, thou Devonshire monkey, Thy Pegasus is nothing but a donkey. 1838J. L. Stephens Trav. Greece, etc. (1839) 37/1 Seven camels and the donkey were stowed in the bottom of the boat. 1859Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 45 Costermongers' ‘shallows’, drawn by woe-begone donkies.
b. Colloq. phrases: (a penny, etc., more and) up goes the donkey, used with allusion to the cry of a travelling showman (see quot. 1889); to talk the hind leg(s) off a donkey (see talk v.).
1841Punch I. 41/2 The report of Sir John Pullon, ‘as to the possibility of elevating an ass to the head of the poll by bribery and corruption’ is perfectly correct, provided there is no abatement in the price. Let him canvass again, and..if he will only stand ‘one penny more, up goes the donkey!’ 1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang (1897) 304/2 ‘Three more and up goes the donkey’, that is, three pennies more and the donkey will go up the ladder. This phrase, used by mountebanks to denote that the performance will begin when the sum required is complete, is often said mockingly to a braggart to imply disbelief. 1913Beerbohm Let. 11 Mar. (1964) 222 They earnestly hope to raise the sum of {pstlg}500; after which ‘up goes the donkey’, I suppose. 1970Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable 336/2 Two more and up goes the donkey, an old cry at fairs, the showman having promised his credulous hearers that as soon as enough pennies are collected his donkey will balance himself on the top of a pole or ladder.
2. transf.
a. A stupid or silly person.
1840Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story ix, ‘What a blubbering, abthurd donkey!’ said Cinqbars. 1862C. M. Yonge C'tess Kate xii. (1864) 212 You little donkey, you'll be off! 1878Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Abb. I. 254 What a donkey he must be.
b. A simple card-game played with special cards.
1920Isis 3 Mar. 6/1 Don't play ‘donkey’ with him: he is the champion of the Giler. 1959G. Avery James without Thomas xi. 195 They hastily changed to Donkey.
3. attrib. and Comb.:
a. general, as donkey-back (cf. horseback), donkey-carriage, donkey-cart, donkey-chair, donkey-path, donkey-race, donkey-ride, donkey-track; donkey-breeding, donkey-driver, donkey-driving, donkey-drubber, donkey-riding; donkey-drawn, donkey-eared, donkey-like, donkey-mad adjs.
1837J. L. Stephens Trav. Holy Land (Chambers) 116 From there we started on *donkey-back. 1884L. Oliphant Haifa (1887) 158 A favourite method of locomotion among the women, was donkey-back.
1816Jane Austen Let. 9 July (1952) 459 We set off in the *Donkey Carriage for Farringdon. 1894Times 23 Mar. 3/2 The Queen..went out in her donkey-carriage this morning.
1838Dickens O. Twist xxi, *Donkey-carts laden with vegetables.
1868C. M. Yonge Let. 8 Oct. in C. Coleridge C.M.Y. (1903) 298 She had been out for a long turn in a *donkey chair.
1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 61 Three *donkey-drivers, conveying the luggage of two British travellers.
1899Westm. Gaz. 18 July 3/3 This zebra-donkey combination appears to exhibit a more than *donkey-like obstinacy. 1962I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xxvi. 250 The more owlish and donkey-like he felt himself becoming.
1855D. G. Rossetti Let. 1 July (1965) I. 261 A *donkey-ride at Clevedon. 1894G. du Maurier Trilby I. ii. 154 Swings, peep-shows, donkey-rides.
1825H. Wilson Mem. II. 86 Fanny..doated on *donkey-riding.
1875J. H. Bennet Shores Medit. i. vii. 189 The road from Castellare, a *donkey-track.
b. Special combs.: donkey-boy, a boy in charge of a donkey, or of a donkey-engine; donkey-drop colloq., in cricket, tennis, etc.: a slow ball bowled or hit so that it travels in a high curve; donkey-engine, a small steam-engine, usually for subsidiary operations on board ship, as feeding the boilers of the propelling engines, etc.; hence donkey-boiler; donkey jacket, a thick jacket worn by workmen as a protection against rain, cold, etc., and later in more general use as a fashionable garment; donkey-lick Austral. slang, (a) v. trans., to defeat easily (e.g. in a horse-race); (b) n., treacle or golden syrup; donkey-man, a man in charge of a donkey, or of a donkey-engine; donkey-pump, an auxiliary steam-pump for filling the boiler of a steam-engine, or for other subsidiary operations; donkey-rest, in Paper-making, ‘a frame against which the form is laid to drain’ (Cent. Dict.); donkey's breakfast slang, (a) a straw mattress (see also quot. 1901); (b) a straw hat; donkey-sled U.S. (see quot.); donkey's or donkeys' years (occas. ears, with punning allusion to the length of a donkey's ears and to the vulgar pronunciation of ears as years) colloq., a very long time; donkey-work, the hard or unattractive part of an undertaking.
1840Barham Ingol. Leg., Bagman's Dog, Little *donkey-boys your steps environ. 1894Times 22 June 10/5 The mate..and the donkey-boy..went in a boat.
1888A. G. Steel in Steel & Lyttleton Cricket iii. 128 Are you going to bowl your *donkey-drops? I'll hit them all out of the ground. 1906Donkey-drop [see dolly n.1 3 b]. 1927Daily Tel. 14 June 9/1 He is content to play ‘donkey drops’ back into court, awaiting the right ball to hit.
1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 49 Hose was..put on the *donkey-engine. 1877W. Thomson Voy. Challenger I. i. 52 The donkey-engines for hoisting the dredging and sounding gear.
1929Morning Post 4 Oct., Members of the City Corporation wanted to know at yesterday's meeting at the Guildhall what a *donkey jacket is... Mr. Gower explained that the jacket was one with leather shoulders and back. 1959J. Braine Vodi xxii 237 He stood there..in his navy-blue donkey jacket and black corduroys. 1961Sunday Express 19 Nov. 1/4 Mr. Osborne, wearing a fur-lined check donkey jacket over a light-weight suit, arrived 10 minutes early for the wedding.
1944Truth (Sydney) 13 Feb. 4/3 Breasley saw Kintore *donkey-lick a field of youngsters in the Federal Stakes. 1945C. Mann in Coast to Coast 23 The filly would donkey lick them in the second. 1953Baker Australia Speaks iii. 81 Donkey lick or cocky's delight, treacle or golden syrup.
1878Daily News 26 Sept. 2/3 We also had 3 engineers and *donkeymen.
1869Eng. Mech. 10 Dec. 293/2 Of the means for feeding the boiler, those in general use are the injector, *donkey-pump, and the force pump.
1901W. C. Russell Ship's Adv. iii, Explaining..that the term *donkey's breakfast signified the bundle of straw which sailors who are reckless of their money ashore carry on board ship with them as a bed. 1909J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 114/2 When a gent puts a donkey's breakfast a-top of his nut. 1916‘Anzac’ On Anzac Trail 7 We slept on the usual ‘donkey's breakfast’, of course. 1935‘J. Guthrie’ Little Country vi. 131 City men in the bowler hat and in the straw hat that was called a donkey's breakfast.
1905Terms Forestry & Logging 35 *Donkey sled, the heavy sled-like frame upon which a donkey engine is fastened.
1916E. V. Lucas Vermilion Box lxxvii. 86 Now for my first bath for what the men call ‘*Donkey's ears’, meaning years and years. 1927H. S. Walpole Great Trad. xvi, I was at the wedding, you know,..'aving worked for Miss Janet and her sister donkey's years. 1928S. Vines Humours Unreconciled ix. 121 He hasn't talked emotionally to me for donkey's years. 1955J. I. M. Stewart Guardians i. 8 It was donkey's years since he had been in an English train. 1961Observer 19 Mar. 3/3 American influence and financial participation have been strong here for donkeys' years.
1920Nat. Rev. Apr. 145 Most of the *donkey-work of this preposterous League has fallen on British shoulders. 1928Sunday Dispatch 8 July 20/5 It would never do for a player to bat and not take his share of the donkey-work afterwards! 1940Manch. Guardian Weekly 15 Mar. 213 As Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health she has had to do most of the donkey work in debate.
Hence ˈdonkey v. intr., to ride a donkey. ˈdonkeydom, condition of a donkey, stupidity, folly. ˈdonkeydrome [after hippodrome], a course for a donkey-race. ˈdonkeyess, a female donkey. ˈdonkeyhood, the condition of being a donkey; donkeys collectively. ˈdonkeyish a., like a donkey, asinine; stupid, foolish. ˈdonkeyism, the quality of being, or an act characteristic of, a ‘donkey’; folly. ˈdonkeyship, the personality of a donkey. (All more or less nonce-wds.)
1843Lefevre Life Trav. Phys. III. iii. xiii. 271 The walks..invite to many pedestrian excursions, and to a deal of donkeying. 1889Baring-Gould Pennycomequicks (1890) 466 [It] had startled her out of this intellectual donkeydom. 1852M. W. Savage R. Medlicott i. v. (D.), The two charioteers being left sprawling in the dust of the donkeydrome. 1842P. Parley's Ann. III. 31 Crossing the heath..with no less than seven donkeys and donkeyesses tied in a string. 1869Sat. Rev. 13 Feb. 222 The typical vanity and maladroit ways of donkeyhood. 1831Fraser's Mag. III. 564 We find ourselves quite donkeyish and stupid. 1855Househ. Words XII. 160 [He] committed an outrageous donkeyism. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. xii. (1891) 293 One softens down the ugly central fact of donkeyism. 1889St. Nicholas Mag. Feb. 304 His donkeyship determined That he would yet have fun.
Add:[2.] c. A low stool on which an artist sits astride, esp. in an art-school.
1943Burlington Mag. June 145/1 He sat as others did, on a low ‘donkey’ near the floor, doing his untutored best to render the cast in front of him. 1967O. Lancaster With Eye to Future iii. 91 Hours during which I should have been listening to interesting lectures on The Prelude were increasingly frequently spent astride my ‘donkey’. 1979C. Hayes Compl. Guide Painting & Drawing Techniques & Materials ii. 31 (caption) Applying the finishing touches to an artist's donkey and sketching easel. 1989Art Line Apr.–May 9/1 The student sits on a wooden ‘donkey’, his left hand clasping the drawing board in front of him.
[3.] b. donkey derby, a race between competitors mounted on donkeys; a meeting at which such races are held.
1958H. E. Bates Darling Buds of May vii. 137 Pop was..trying to induce Miss Pilchester to ride in the *donkey Derby. 1976Milton Keynes Express 28 May 3 News was taking part in Kingsbrook School donkey derby at Deanshanger—the Ass-cot of the season, you might say. 1985Sunset June 4/3 June 29 and 30: Cripple Creek, Donkey Derby Days with burro races.
donkey stool = sense *2 c above.
1945E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited i. v. 95 We sat astride the donkey stools and evoked a barely visible wraith of Trilby. My drawings were worthless. |