| 释义 |
roaring forties
1. Exceptionally rough seas that occur between latitudes 40° and 50° south, where strong westerly winds blow; formerly also applied to the part of the Atlantic Ocean between 40° and 50° north latitude. Occas. also applied to the winds themselves.
1883Buchan in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 146/2 The region of the ‘brave west winds’, the ‘roaring forties’ of sailors. 1893J. A. Barry Steve Brown's Bunyip 165 Older shipmasters laughed..saying that they found the Roaring Forties quite strong enough for them. 1906W. Marriott Hints to Meteorol. Observers (ed. 6) 68/1 Roaring forties, the regions between lat. 40° and 50° S., where the ‘brave West winds’ blow. 1924R. Clements Gipsy of Horn vii. 126 Right ‘roaring forties’ weather came down on us with a swoop. 1953A. A. Miller Climatology (ed. 8) xi. 199 In the southern hemisphere the disturbance of the planetary winds is much less; ‘Roaring Forties’ and the ‘Brave West Winds’ blow all the year round with considerable force. 1966F. Chichester in Sunday Times 30 Oct. 3/6 Twice I have entered the Roaring Forties and been driven out by gales and squalls.
2. fig.
a. The fifth decade of life.
b. Naut. slang. (See quot. 1948.)
1867Harper's Mag. Sept. 509/2 A very pretty woman, whose bark of life had not as yet drifted into the ‘roaring forties’. 1930H. K. Pasma Close-Hauled ii. 211, I am in my roaring forties now. 1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 156 Roaring forties, Lieutenant Commanders between 40 and 50 years of age. 1962Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 96/2 Roaring forties, rough seas in 40–50 degrees south latitude, hence, a slang name for certain taut-handed lieut-commanders in their forties, who are always roaring up the hands. |