| 释义 |
scofflaw Chiefly U.S.|ˈskɒflɔː|
[f. scoff v.1 + law n.1]
One who treats the law with contempt, esp. a person who avoids various kinds of not easily enforceable laws. Also attrib.
1924Boston Herald 16 Jan. 1/2 Delcevare King of Quincy last night announced that ‘scofflaw’ is the winning word in the contest for the $200 he offered for a word, to characterize the ‘lawless drinker’ of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor. ‘Scofflaw’ was chosen from more than 25,000 words, submitted from all the states and from several foreign countries. The word was sent by two contestants, so the prize will be equally divided between Henry Irving Dale..and Miss Kate L. Butler. 1936Mencken Amer. Lang. (ed. 4) 174 The announcement that scofflaw..had won was made on Jan. 15, 1924. The word came into immediate currency, and survived until the collapse of Prohibition. 1956N.Y. Times 17 Jan. 27/3 The maximum fine of $50 a ticket was imposed yesterday upon a woman scofflaw who had accumulated fifty-one parking tickets. 1961Observer 1 Oct. 30/6 An unenforceable law which automatically transformed every wet citizen into a scofflaw. 1965P. De Vries Let Me count Ways iv. 57 A scofflaw in such a jam could easily insist that the facts in his possession during his lifetime justified his unbelief. 1971J. Gray Red Lights iii. 78 Moose Jaw became the happy hunting ground for Regina gamblers, philandering husbands..and unclassified scofflaws. 1973D. E. Westlake Cops & Robbers 25 He had New York plates. Good. If I gave him a ticket he couldn't be a scofflaw, fade away into some other state and thumb his nose at me. 1977Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 3 Sept. 6/1 The illegal phone-dialing devices called ‘blue boxes’ are about to be put out of business... By..pressing its rewired dial-tone buttons, a scofflaw could bypass phone company billing systems. |