| 释义 |
ˈthank you
[Aphetic for I thank you.]
A. phr.
1. A phrase used in courteous acknowledgement of a favour or service. thank you for nothing: see thank v. 3 f. So, rarely, thank thee. Cf. thankee. Occas. with intensifying advbs. and phrases: cf. thank n. 5 b.
14..Why I can't be a Nun 159 in E.E.P. (1862) 142 ‘Thanke yow, lady’, quod I than. 1616B. Jonson Devil an Ass iv. ii, Eith. Thanke you good Madame... Thanke thee, good Eyther-side. 1705Vanbrugh Confed. i. i, Thank you kindly, Mrs. Amlet, thank you kindly. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. ii. 140 No, thank ye, Colonel. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxiv, It's you who want to introduce beggars into my family? Thank you for nothing, Captain. 1862C. M. Yonge C'tess Kate ii. 24 She..said something meant for ‘No, thank you’; but of which nothing was to be heard but ‘q’ [i.e. ―k you]. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 206 [He] goes about learning of others, to whom he never even says Thank you. 1885A. Edwardes Girton Girl III. x. 182 Oscar Jones looked radiant. ‘Thank you, awfully, Miss Bartrand.’ 1967K. Giles Death in Diamonds ix. 155 Thank you a million.
2. a. Used to add emphasis to a preceding expression of a wish or opinion (usu. one implying a denial or refusal).
1904E. Nesbit Phoenix & Carpet xi. 212 He didn't mean stay and be roasted... No boys on burning decks for me, thank you. 1928E. O'Neill Strange Interlude iv. 148 No, I've enough guilt in my memory now, thank you! 1940Punch 5 June 624/1, I still have some remnants of self-respect, thank you. 1959Times 27 Apr. 11/3 It was there..that the emissaries of Noah came to give warning of the impending flood, only to be told that the Macneils had a boat of their own, thank you. 1963N. Marsh Dead Water (1964) vii. 170 ‘Do you mean that you confronted her?’ ‘Me! No, thank you!’ 1974M. Forster Seduction of Mrs. Pendlebury x. 105, I don't want to do her good, I just want to keep her out of sight and mind, thank you very much. 1983Listener 27 Jan. 25/3 Those of us who felt that nuclear weapons were quite enough to be worrying about, thank you very much, were given a nasty jolt by the documentary Overcast, with Outbreaks of Yellow Rain.
b. Used in imitation of direct speech to imply self-satisfaction or complacency on the part of a person just referred to; chiefly in phr. to do very well, thank you and varr.
1931S. Jameson Richer Dust xix. 524 He himself was doing very well, thank you. 1969Guardian 4 July 7/1 One of them was Louise Purnell, and you know she's doing very nicely, thank you. 1971S. Jepson Let. to Dead Girl viii. 85 Merchant bankers..encouraged people like John Kinnon and..did very well out of it thank you. 1972National Observer (U.S.) 27 May 8/4 Pat dresses stylishly, favoring white boots, and gets around just fine, thank you.
3. In negative contexts, used like thank v. 3 h.
1935D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night xvii. 365 That's what the man wants. He wouldn't say thank you for a critic on the hearth. 1969W. J. Burley Death in Willow Pattern v. 56, I wouldn't say thank you for it! 1970D. Bagley Running Blind ix. 199 Nordlinger's Chevrolet was too long... I wouldn't have given a thank you for it.
B. n. (written with hyphen or as one word): An utterance of this phrase. Also, an unspoken expression of thanks.
1792F. Burney Jrnl. May (1972) I. 174 He looked even extremely gratified..& Bowed expressively a thank you. 1824J. Keble Let. in G. Battiscombe John Keble (1963) i. iv. 80 And so with as hearty a thank-you and farewell as ever you received I am your obliged and very faithful John Keble. 1887Chr. World 4 Aug. 589 He utters a hearty ‘Thank-you!’ 1894Westm. Gaz. 21 Aug. 3/3 The majority of passengers retreated from the tables regardless of their running fire of ‘thankyous’, which were thankyous for nothing. 1900Ibid. 6 Sept. 2/1 We had not said nearly enough ‘thank-yous’.
C. attrib., designating something written or done to convey thanks (in quot. 1922, that merits thanks); esp. thank-you letter, thank you note.
1912J. Webster Daddy-Long-Legs 57, I meant this to be just a short little thank-you note. 1915― Dear Enemy 111, I spend my entire time composing thank-you letters that aren't exact copies of the ones I've sent before. 1922Joyce Ulysses 131 Saving princes is a thank you job. 1939F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. 5 Apr. (1964) 55 Got a nice thank-you letter from Frances Turnbull for the check I sent her. 1948‘P. Quentin’ Run to Death x. 83 Vera and I said, ‘thank-you’ speeches to Mrs. Snood and left. 1979R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) ii. i. 183 After she saw his play she wrote him a thank-you note. 1981P. Dickinson Seventh Raven xiii. 189 The thank-you party..for the children—ice-cream and sausage rolls and lemonade. |