| 释义 |
non-U, a. and n.|nɒnˈjuː, ˈnɒnjuː|
[f. non- 3 + U 4.]
A. adj. Not upper-class; not characteristic of upper-class people; esp. with reference to linguistic usage.
B. n. Non-U persons or characteristics collectively; non-U language. Hence non-U-ness.
1954A. S. C. Ross in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen LV. 21 (title) U and non-U. Ibid., In this article I use the terms upper class (abbreviated: U), correct, proper,..to designate usages of the upper class; their antonyms (non-U, incorrect, not proper,..) to designate usages which are not upper class. Ibid. 22 As a boy I heard not quite a gent..used by non-U speakers. Ibid. 23 The non-U slang phrase He's left his visiting card. Ibid. 27 The U-rules for ending letters are very strict; failure to observe them usually implies non-U-ness. Ibid. 45 Pardon! is used by the non-U in three main ways. 1956Times 13 Jan. 9/4 The cosh is, of course, definitely non-U, whereas the old-fashioned blunt instrument was perfectly comme il faut. 1957O. Nash You can't get there from Here 16 The Wicked Queen said ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ instead of ‘Looking glass, looking glass on the wall’... So the Wicked Queen exposed herself as not only wicked but definitely non-U. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 18 July 411/2 They phrase their advice just seriously enough to encourage the uninitiated, or non-U, yet just facetiously enough to reassure the cognoscenti. 1960R. Lister Decorative Cast Ironwork iv. 141 Letter racks, tobacco jars, spittoons (‘salivaria’ in non-U). 1964H. Kökeritz in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 140 These pronunciations..might..be classified as U rather than non-U. 1967M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour iii. 47 Others may be divided simply into the ‘saved’ and the ‘not-saved’, U and non-U, or into finer sub-groups. 1973Listener 29 Nov. 755/2 Empty-headed chat, mixed with non-U euphemisms. |