| 释义 |
Barnum|ˈbɑːnəm|
[The name of Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810–91), a pushing American show-proprietor.]
1. Humbug, nonsense; showmanship.
1856G. D. Brewerton War in Kansas 17 He believed the whole affair to be a ‘Barnum’—alias humbug, of the most unmitigated kind. a1914Joyce Stephen Hero (1944) xxi. 117 It's absurd: it's Barnum. He comes into the world God knows how, walks on the water. 1937Daily Express 7 Jan. 10/5 There is a touch of Barnum about scientists which sets them whooping when any one of them has found something new.
2. Comb.
1874W. James Let. 8 Aug. (1920) I. vii. 182 The dreadful feeling of wounded pride and Barnum-born resentment may with time fade away. 1899Westm. Gaz. 28 June 2/2 Was there ever a more Barnum-like sort of exhibition?
Hence Barnumese [see -ese]; Barnumesque a. [see -esque]. Cf. Barnumize v., Barnumism.
1888Farmer Americanisms 40/1 We get words like barnumese and telegraphese, to signify exaggeration of style. 1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 189 A florid prospectus in the best Barnumese. 1890Cornh. Mag. Dec. 629 A perfectly Barnumesque profusion of quaint monstrosities. |