释义 |
Reub, Rube|ruːb| abbrevs. Reuben 1. Also attrib. Cf. hey, Rube! s.v. hey int.
1896Ade Artie i. 8 If I had time I'd go over to that church and make a lot o' them Reubs look like thirty-cent pieces. 1899‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps 396 Rube, a ‘hoosier’, or ‘farmer’. 1904[see bark v.1 2 b]. 1915Dialect Notes IV. 200 Reub, rube, local name for rustic... ‘On the Fourth of July the Reubs all come to town.’ 1919[see kike]. 1927Scots Observer 26 Feb. 3/4 They know a Rube when they see him, or a guy, or a crook, or a bonehead. 1937Lit. Digest 3 Apr. 21/3 Child labor laws..have forced children [of circus people] into schools for a certain number of months a year. This contact with ‘rubes’ and ‘townies’ has given rise to new interests. 1946E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh iv. 253 The boys tell me the rubes are wasting all their money buying food and times never was so hard. 1949F. Sargeson I saw it in my Dream 218 Mr Anderson said Cedric was just a rube. 1953W. Moore Bring Jubilee ii. 20 Rube, huh? Much money you got?.. O.K., Ruben. Come along. 1956W. R. Bird Off-Trail in Nova Scotia iii. 69 Don't try to talk down to someone you meet in those places no matter if they look like rubes for ten to one they've seen more of the world than you have. 1970R. Price Gt. Roob Revolution 5 The word ‘rube’ (from Reuben) was originally used by carnival people to identify the farmers, yokels, and assorted rural types. 1973J. Gores Final Notice xxiv. 158 The rube who wanders into the pool hall and loses a few games... Then the bets get bigger and he..starts clearing tables. 1975New Yorker 29 Dec. 36/3 We had one girl who did a good rube act. 1976Time 20 Dec. 17/1 They were an unsolemn pair, the young man who likes his rube image and the impeccably dressed man who looked more like a smooth character actor than a politician of enormous influence. |