| 释义 |
Gilbertian, a.|gɪlˈbɜːtɪən, gɪlˈbɜːʃən|
[f. the name of W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), librettist of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas + -ian.]
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of W. S. Gilbert or his work; spec. resembling or reminiscent of the ludicrous or paradoxical situations characteristic of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Hence Gilˈbertianism.
1879Scribner's Monthly Oct. 909/1 ‘Thespis’ ran one hundred nights. Of course the plot unfolds a Gilbertian conceit. 1887Graphic 29 Jan. 107 All do their duty, and, to borrow a Gilbertian phrase, ‘do it very well’. 1891Strand Mag. Oct. 331/2 There is a perfect home farm on the Gilbertian land. 1894P. Fitzgerald Savoy Opera 13 The ‘Gilbertian’ topic of the English traveller ‘turning up his nose’ at everything he sees abroad. Ibid. 14 A sort of ‘Gilbertian humour’. 1906Daily Chron. 16 Nov. 6/7 The Gilbertian question whether a Lord Chancellor could bring himself to justice for contempt of his own court..is equalled in the quality of Gilbertianism by the puzzle of Baton Rouge, Indiana. 1918T. H. Ward Eng. Poets V. 540 His peculiar quality of topsy-turvydom, which has perhaps added the word ‘Gilbertian’ to the language. 1929Times 18 July 15/2 A Gilbertian situation arose in which a Government pledged to attack and an Opposition pledged to defend private enterprise simply exchanged roles. 1961Sunday Times 30 Apr. 12/6 Might one deduce a coming Gilbertian revival? There seems no reason why that difficult Gilbertian morality should not appeal to the connoisseur like contemporary wax-fruit and beadwork. |