| 释义 |
rag-tag, n. (a.)|ˈrægtæg|
[f. rag n.1 + tag. The older expression was tag and rag (very common in 16–17th c.).]
A. n.
1. a. collect. The ragged disreputable portion of the community; the raff or rabble. b. One of the individuals forming this class.
1879Marg. Lonsdale Sister Dora viii. (1880) 199 She visited all classes—from the respectable, down to what she called the ‘ragtags’ of the town.
2. rag-tag (or rag, tag) and bob-tail = 1 a. Also transf.; sometimes = ‘the whole lot’.
1820Blackw. Mag. VII. 318 This Journal cuts up the rag⁓tag and bobtail of the faction. 1882H. Seebohm Siberia in Asia 100 Ragtag-and-bobtail of the great Arctic army. 1887T. A. Trollope What I remember II. vi. 95 He shall have them all, rag, tag, and bobtail.
attrib.1882F. M. Crawford Mr. Isaacs 3 Regular rag⁓tag-and-bobtail cut-throat moss-troopers.
B. Passing into adj. Of form or appearance: ragged, raggle-taggle; disreputable; disorderly, unorganized, straggling.
a. Of persons, etc.
1883Glasgow Weekly Herald 23 Apr. 8/4 These are the shapes sold by certain rag-tag drapers at 3d. 1884American VIII. 46 We are hemmed in by..rag-tag Arabs. 1969Telegraph (Brisbane) 19 Aug. 19/4 In unison a ragtag band of motorcyclists drank a toast. 1978S. Brill Teamsters ix. 322 These were by and large a ragtag group of overaged ne'er-do-wells.
b. Of things.
1922Blunden Shepherd (ed. 2) 30 When on the green the rag-tag game had stopd. 1969Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XCI. facing p. 4946 (Advt.), Such rag-tag, sometimes illegible copies probably stay in your files..permanently. 1977Rolling Stone 5 May 11/1 The audience was evenly divided between under-18s in ragtag street wear and those first-generation rock fans now moving into Sisley jeans affluence. |