| 释义 |
larrikin Chiefly Austral.|ˈlærɪkɪn|
Also larikin.
[Of uncertain origin; possibly f. Larry (a nickname for Lawrence, common in Ireland) + -kin.
The word seems to have originated in Melbourne not long before 1870; but the story that it was evolved by a reporter from an Irish policeman's pronunciation of larking, heard in a Melbourne police-court in 1869, appears to be a figment, no trace of the incident being found in the local papers of the time. (See Morris, Austral Eng., s.v.) A guess that has been proposed is that it is short for Eng. slang leary kinchen. Wright, Suppl. to E.D.D., cites larrikin ‘a mischievous or frolicsome youth’ from informants in Warwickshire and Worcestershire; see also quot. 1882. Cf. E.D.D., Larack (larack about, to ‘lark’ about), cited from C. C. Robinson's Dial. of Leeds (1861).]
a. A (usually juvenile) street rowdy; the Australian equivalent of the ‘hoodlum’ or ‘hooligan’. Also transf. and attrib.
1868H. W. Harper Lett. from N.Z. (1914) vii. 123 We are beset with larrikins, who lurk about in the darkness and deliver every sort of attack on the walls and roof with stones and sticks. 1870Melbourne Herald 4 Apr. 3/2 Three larikins..had behaved in a very disorderly manner in Little Latrobe-street. 1871Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 27 Apr. 2/4 Such rowdyism I never saw before, even in Melbourne and San Francisco, the hotbeds of larrikins. 1882F. W. P. Jago Anc. Lang. & Dial. Cornwall 205 Larrikins, mischievious young fellows, larkers. ‘Mischievious larrikins who pull the young trees down.’ The Cornishman. 1886–7Burton Arab. Nts. I. 4 Story of the Larrikin and the Cook. 1890Melbourne Argus 26 May 6/7 He was set upon by a gang of larrikins, who tried to rescue his prisoner. 1898G. W. Steevens With Kitchener to Khartum 142 Lord and larrikin, Balliol and the Board School, the Sirdar's brain and the camel's back—all welded into one. 1901Daily Tel. 8 Mar. 8/7 The larrikins of the Legislature..could not be visited retrospectively with an adequate punishment. 1925E. Wallace King by Night xlix. 224 The desire of the larrikin for closer association with his social superiors. 1943D. Stewart in Coast to Coast 1942 204 For all his larrikin assurance, Les was afraid to put his feeling for Leila into words. 1966‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 26 It had headed straight for the sturdiest, roughest, most larrikin-looking mob of cattle. 1972Southerly XXXII. 199 He had come around a corner in a corridor to find her confronting a larrikin from 2D.
b. attrib. passing into adj.
1870M. Clarke Goody Two Shoes 26 He's a lively little Larrikin Lad, and his name is Little Boy Blue. 1884Lit. Era II. 165 Such a larrikin phrase as ‘O crimini’ is to be found..in his writings. 1891E. Kinglake Australian at H. 108 The larrikin hordes of the cities of Australia.
Hence larrikiness, a female larrikin; larrikinism, the habits and practices of larrikins.
1870Australian (Richmond, Vict.) 10 Sept. 3/3 (Morris) A slight attempt at ‘larrikinism’ was manifested. 1871Collingwood Advertiser (Austral.) 22 June 3/5 (ibid.) Evidence was tendered as to the manner of life led by these larikinesses. 1871Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 27 Apr. 2/4 (heading) Larrikinism v. Public Entertainments. 1879C. L. Innes Canterbury Sk. v. 39 We had not then [sc. in 1852–3] the pestilential element of ‘larrikinism’ which is so rife now, and which makes many public meetings so objectionable. 1891E. Kinglake Australian at H. 106 Larrikinism confines itself to no particular class. 1892G. Parker Round Compass Austral. xii. 224 Nor does the young larrikiness..exist as a class. 1927M. M. Bennett Christison xxviii. 264 This last piece of larrikinism took Mimi so completely by surprise that she could not think of anything to say. |