| 释义 |
soft centre
Also soft-centre.
[f. soft a. + centre n.]
1. a. A soft filling inside a chocolate. Also attrib.
[1930H. W. Bywaters Mod. Methods of Cocoa & Chocolate Manuf. xxv. 251 During recent years chocolates containing soft creme centres..have increased in popularity.] 1947‘G. Orwell’ in Tribune 7 Mar. 11/3 The same kind of charm as belongs to a pink geranium or a soft-centre chocolate. 1959[see centre n. 11 e].
b. transf. A chocolate with a soft filling.
1970H. McLeave Question of Negligence (1973) ii. 18 Every time Lord Blye turned nasty..her consumption of petit fours and soft centres soared. 1974P. Haines Tea at Gunter's xiv. 149 Me..lying about on the settee eating soft centres, and Mantovani on the radiogram.
2. A soft heart, esp. in contrast with a tough exterior; a vulnerable or weak core. Also attrib.
1955E. Blishen Roaring Boys iv. 194 The fierceness and roughness of the boys was of the surface... The longer I stayed there, the more aware I became of this soft centre. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 148, I gathered from the female novelists I had been reading..that the malleable, soft-centre syndrome was no longer considered attractive. 1974Bookseller 20 July 197/1 Most of the publishers I've known have had soft centres. They love to be loved, especially by their authors. |