| 释义 |
B-list, n. and a. orig. U.S.
Brit. |ˈbiːlɪst|, U.S. |ˈbiˌlɪst|
[‹ B n. + list n.6, after A-list n. Compare earlier C-list n.]
A. n.
1. The second in a series of lists, esp. lists ranked in order of preference or significance.
1928M. C. Barlow in Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. 2 306 For pupils who practised the B-list first, instructions were given which differed. 1947W. W. Wilcox Farmer in Second World War v. 66 Cotton was placed on the B list and did not receive any priority in fertilizer use. 1963L. P. Curtis Coercion & Conciliation in Ireland App. 438 The first or ‘A’ list contained the list of the dozen top nationalists... The second or ‘B’ list was composed in 1890 of thirteen men who were either active Parnellite members or promoters of the league and the Plan. 1992Independent 9 May (Mag.) 42/3 What a plugger really wants is to get a record on to..either the B-list, which means it will be played eight or nine times a week, or, better still, the A-list, which ensures about 15 plays a week.
2. Any (notional) list comprising moderately celebrated, sought-after, or high-ranking individuals, esp. in the entertainment industry or the media; a prominent but not elite social, professional, or celebrity group.
1935S. Walker Mrs. Astor's Horse 10 Miss Cutting has an A and B list of débutantes and stag lines: the two lists rarely if ever meet. 1976Newsweek (Nexis) 13 Sept. 86 You can slip from the A list to the B list and beyond very quickly. 1985Toronto Star 9 Dec. c1 Nash and his wife..host three holiday season brunches at their midtown apartment. Guests, mainly from the show business field, jokingly wonder if they're on the A, B, or C list. 2000M. Howe Turkey Today vi. 67 Toni didn't get to show President Clinton Ephesus... She was charged with the B list of VIPs.
B. adj. Of or belonging to a B-list; spec. designating or relating to a (notional) roster of moderately celebrated or sought-after individuals, esp. in the entertainment industry or the media. Usu. attrib.
1976Newsweek 13 Sept. 88 ‘B’ list borrowers—actors and lesser lights—may have to wait a week. 1991N. Baker U & I (1992) vi. 106 The general whimperiness of this passage of mine, combined with the reliance on B-list metaphors like ‘wash of millennia’..has the ring of vulgarized early Updike. 1996Daily Tel. 20 June 12/5 The cast was mostly B-list and even José Cura, in the title role, seemed below par. 2001N.Y. Times 8 July i. 21/4 For decades now, the two [tabloids] have been engaged in a smack-down death match in which the term ‘exclusive’ is liberally applied, the ‘canoodling’ of B-list celebrities is deemed worthy of print, [etc.]. |