| 释义 |
ˈyes-man colloq. (orig. U.S.).
Also yes man.
[f. yes adv. + man n.1]
A man who agrees from self-interest or fear with everything put to him by a superior; an obsequious subordinate.
1912Century Mag. July 339/2 We're both yes-men, Edward. We've got to take orders now. 1924H. C. Witwer in Cosmopolitan Apr. 69/2, I thoroughly enjoy..the yes-men who hang about the executives and hold their jobs by simply being constantly affirmative. 1928Sunday Express 15 July 3/6 Heeney is paying the strictest attention to his instructors, and in this respect is very different from Tunney, who directs his own training, and whose camp associates are all ‘Yes’ men. 1933C. Day Lewis Magnetic Mountain 51 What do they believe in, these yellow yes-men. 1949[see closed shop s.v. closed ppl. a. 3]. 1954D. Unwin Governor's Wife v. 119 Your administration..favours the boot-lickers, the sycophants, the yes-men who do as they're told and don't make trouble. 1959[see band-wagon]. 1973Times 31 Jan. 14/3 This is not a demand for ‘yes men’ but for common standards. 1979J. Wainwright Duty Elsewhere i. 8 The heavies and the molls—the pimps and the yes-men.
Hence ˈyes-girl, -woman, an obsequiously subordinate woman.
1930K. Brush Young Man of Manhattan v. 56 Her attitude.., so respectful, so impressed, hardened his heart. ‘Just a yes-girl!’ he thought bitterly. 1933S. Lewis Ann Vickers xxxviii. 454 They want to boss a gang of meek yes-women or they want to be received socially, like princesses. 1937H. G. Wells Star Begotten vii. 128 All his most trusted henchmen, tools, stooges, subordinates, intimates, Watsons, yes-girls. 1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 17 ‘That's right,’ said the yes-woman. 1950D. Cusack Morning Sacrifice in 3 Austral. Three-Act Plays i. 188 It..Prepares them to accept all, question nothing, and grow into nice well-behaved yes-girls. 1979M. Soames Clementine Churchill xvi. 235 Devoted and fiercely loyal, she never became a ‘yes-woman’. |