namby-pambyadj.n.

Brit.

/ˌnambɪˈpambi/, U.S.

/ˌnæmbiˈpæmbi/

Origin: From a proper name. Etymon: proper name Namby Pamby.

Etymology: < Namby Pamby, a disparaging alteration (a reduplication with variation of initial consonant and suffixation (compare -y suffix¹), in imitation of childish speech) of the name of Ambrose Philips (1675–1749), author of sentimental poems (especially concerning children).Philips's poems were ridiculed in print by Henry Carey, John Gay, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift; the nickname Namby Pamby was used by Carey as the title of his parody of Philips's verse, and subsequently by Pope in the Dunciad:1726 H. Carey (title) Namby Pamby.1726 H. Carey Namby Pamby 29 So the Nurses get by Heart Namby Pamby's Little Rhimes.1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) iii. 322 Beneath his reign, shall..Namby Pamby be prefer'd for Wit!

derogatory.

A. adj.

1. Of literary or artistic style, a composition, etc.: weakly sentimental, insipidly pretty, affectedly or childishly simple. Of a writer, artist, etc.: having such a style.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > feebly sentimental

snivelling1673

namby-pamby1733

namby-pambical1761

treacly1800

namby-pambyish1825

keepsaky1871

soapy1889

keepsake1898

lipsticky1931

corny1932

gloppy1976

1733 ‘Scriblerus Maximus’ Art of Scribling 10 Now each little Namby-Pamby Bard, Esteems that easy, Ben [i.e. Ben Jonson] himself thought hard.

1745 W. Ayre Mem. A. Pope II. 90 He us'd to write Verses on Infants, in a strange Stile, which Dean Swift calls the Namby Pamby Stile.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1747 I. 97 At a very advanced age he could condescend to trifle in namby pamby rhymes.

1823 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 73 Too many of these namby-pamby lyrics have still been allowed to remain.

1840 W. M. Thackeray Paris Sketch Bk. I. 98 The namby-pamby mystical German school [of painters].

1920 J. Joyce Let. 3 Jan. (1957) I. 135 Nausikaa is written in a namby-pamby jammy marmalady..style.

1955 Times 17 June 12/2 W. E. Frost (sometimes a trifling and namby-pamby artist) has a good incisive drawing in pen and water-colour, of a bather seated by the sea-shore.

1983 P. Levi Flutes of Autumn i. 15 Mooning over the namby-pamby stories in Lamb's Tales, and demanding the real thing.

1995 Q June 134/1 What was then innocence..now sounds weak and thin, the lyrics irritatingly namby-pamby.

2. Of a person or group of people: inclined to weak sentimentality, affectedly dainty; lacking vigour or drive; effeminate in expression or behaviour. Also: characteristic of or suited to such a person.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > sentimentality > [adjective]

sugary1591

maudlina1631

mawkish1702

sickly1766

emetic1770

mawky1773

pamby1820

sentimental1823

saccharine1841

sticky1841

mushy1848

sentimentalizing1856

Christmas card1860

maumish1866

slobbery1875

namby-pamby1883

sloppy1883

slushy1889

sentimentalistic1904

marshmallowy1907

hearts and flowers1911

slobby1913

soppy1918

meltyc1921

lavender1928

saccharescent1930

schmaltzya1934

sloshy1933

gooey1935

icky1938

cheesy1943

drippy1952

soupy1953

squishy1953

saccharined1962

gloopy1965

yechy1969

yucky1970

sucky1971

yuck1971

schmoozy1976

1774 Westm. Mag. 2 145 A namby-pamby Duke.

1774 T. Davies in J. Granger Lett. (1805) 60 Certain namby-pamby people were never to be satisfied.

1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 81. 648 Sweet smirking troops, In coats of green, and namby pamby pride.

1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xlii. 383 She was..a namby-pamby milk-and-water affected creature.

1883 Fortn. Rev. Sept. 384 An amount of curious facts which namby-pamby travellers hesitate to tell.

1904 J. London Sea-wolf ii. 20 Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream. And they were not namby-pamby oaths, or mere expressions of indecency.

1913 Bulletin (San Francisco) 3 Apr. 15/2 in Comments on Etymol. (2000) May 14 It will not be a namby-pamby [baseball] club, but a straight out-and-out band of fighters.

1954 Astounding Sci. Fiction Sept. 16/2 I like quarrelling. If you're going to go namby-pamby and pally-wally on me, I'll go find someone else.

1971 D. H. Robinson Raj xxviii. 283 He had always looked on wickets as a posh game, namby-pamby.

2014 R. W. Greene Lost at School viii. 263 ‘You want me to be part of the process of turning the school discipline program into some namby-pamby, permissive—’ ‘Plan B is not namby-pamby. And it's not permissive, either.’

B. n.

†1. Weakly sentimental insipid style or writing; an example of this. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [noun] > feeble sentimentality > writing

namby-pamby1757

namby-pambics1766

1757 J. Byrom Remarks Pamphlet in Misc. Poems (1773) I. 212 Forbid the Gallic Namby Pamby Here to repeat its crazy Crambe.

a1764 R. Lloyd Cobbler of Cripplegate While namby-pamby thus you scribble.

1801 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1802) 5 284 An ode which he has just composed in praise of Inanity, or Namby Pamby.

1814 T. L. Peacock Wks. (1875) III. 129 Mr. W. R. Spenser, a writer of fantastical namby-pambies.

1838 T. B. Macaulay Sir W. Temple in Ess. (1903) II. 260 Passages in which raillery and tenderness are mixed in a very engaging namby-pamby.

1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. vi. 285 That unlucky taste for the namby-pamby by which Wordsworth annoyed his contemporaries.

1894 G. A. Sala Things I have Seen II. xiv. 135 The words in the songs..were not always sickly namby-pamby.

2. A weak, fussy, or affected person.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > insubstantial > frivolous or not serious

pickstraw1580

Jack with the feather1581

fiddler1591

fribble1610

trifler1612

fribbler1712

toyer1814

frivolist1884

namby-pamby1885

frivoller1889

footler1891

frivol1959

1885 Athenæum 17 Oct. 498/1 He is excellent..on Haydon passim; about the namby-pambies of the time he writes as becomes the author of the ‘Book of Snobs’.

1946 Sunday Disp. 8 Sept. 6/4 Speedway is no place for the namby-pamby or the coward.

1962 P. Scott Birds of Paradise (1967) IV. iii. 237 But she loved Krish more, even though she thought him a bit of a namby-pamby in comparison.

1989 P. Mayle Year in Provence (1990) 162 Miserable namby-pambies who didn't want to get their boots dirty in the forest.

2014 Z. Wicomb October 55 Butter on roosterbrood?.. It appears that only namby-pambies, or is it the gluttonous, would butter such bread.

Derivatives

† namby-pambyish adj. Obsolete somewhat namby-pamby.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > feebly sentimental

snivelling1673

namby-pamby1733

namby-pambical1761

treacly1800

namby-pambyish1825

keepsaky1871

soapy1889

keepsake1898

lipsticky1931

corny1932

gloppy1976

1825 E. Gerard Lett. in Rhyme 179 Your fable's namby-pamby-ish, indeed, But not so faulty for a first essay.

1832 Examiner 517/1 The words..are namby-pambyish.

1855 H. M. Stephens Hagar the Martyr 74 He was just her style of a man; nothing effeminate or namby-pambyish, but bold as a hawk.

ˈnamby-ˈpambyness n. the quality of being namby-pamby; weak sentimentality.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [noun] > feeble sentimentality

namby-pambyness1823

namby-pambyism1834

1823 Sporting Mag. May 126/2 Prejudiced as I am, against the usual namby-pamby-ness of performances in water-colours [etc.].

1871 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 15 Dec. (1955) V. 226 That keepsakey, impossible face..which has been engraved for the Life in all it [sic] odious namby-pambyness beautification.

1914 Unity (Chicago) 23 Apr. 123/1 What these ladies lack is more hard sense and less soft sense; more robustness and less namby-pamby-ness.

2014 M.-H. Bertino 2 A.M. at Cat's Pajamas 114 Georgie's oblivion, Bella's selfobsession, Michael's namby-pamby-ness.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	namby-pamby
释义	namby-pambyadj.n. Brit. /ˌnambɪˈpambi/, U.S. /ˌnæmbiˈpæmbi/ Origin: From a proper name. Etymon: proper name Namby Pamby. Etymology: < Namby Pamby, a disparaging alteration (a reduplication with variation of initial consonant and suffixation (compare -y suffix¹), in imitation of childish speech) of the name of Ambrose Philips (1675–1749), author of sentimental poems (especially concerning children).Philips's poems were ridiculed in print by Henry Carey, John Gay, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift; the nickname Namby Pamby was used by Carey as the title of his parody of Philips's verse, and subsequently by Pope in the Dunciad:1726 H. Carey (title) Namby Pamby.1726 H. Carey Namby Pamby 29 So the Nurses get by Heart Namby Pamby's Little Rhimes.1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) iii. 322 Beneath his reign, shall..Namby Pamby be prefer'd for Wit! derogatory. A. adj. 1. Of literary or artistic style, a composition, etc.: weakly sentimental, insipidly pretty, affectedly or childishly simple. Of a writer, artist, etc.: having such a style. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > feebly sentimental snivelling1673 namby-pamby1733 namby-pambical1761 treacly1800 namby-pambyish1825 keepsaky1871 soapy1889 keepsake1898 lipsticky1931 corny1932 gloppy1976 1733 ‘Scriblerus Maximus’ Art of Scribling 10 Now each little Namby-Pamby Bard, Esteems that easy, Ben [i.e. Ben Jonson] himself thought hard. 1745 W. Ayre Mem. A. Pope II. 90 He us'd to write Verses on Infants, in a strange Stile, which Dean Swift calls the Namby Pamby Stile. 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1747 I. 97 At a very advanced age he could condescend to trifle in namby pamby rhymes. 1823 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 73 Too many of these namby-pamby lyrics have still been allowed to remain. 1840 W. M. Thackeray Paris Sketch Bk. I. 98 The namby-pamby mystical German school [of painters]. 1920 J. Joyce Let. 3 Jan. (1957) I. 135 Nausikaa is written in a namby-pamby jammy marmalady..style. 1955 Times 17 June 12/2 W. E. Frost (sometimes a trifling and namby-pamby artist) has a good incisive drawing in pen and water-colour, of a bather seated by the sea-shore. 1983 P. Levi Flutes of Autumn i. 15 Mooning over the namby-pamby stories in Lamb's Tales, and demanding the real thing. 1995 Q June 134/1 What was then innocence..now sounds weak and thin, the lyrics irritatingly namby-pamby. 2. Of a person or group of people: inclined to weak sentimentality, affectedly dainty; lacking vigour or drive; effeminate in expression or behaviour. Also: characteristic of or suited to such a person. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > sentimentality > [adjective] sugary1591 maudlina1631 mawkish1702 sickly1766 emetic1770 mawky1773 pamby1820 sentimental1823 saccharine1841 sticky1841 mushy1848 sentimentalizing1856 Christmas card1860 maumish1866 slobbery1875 namby-pamby1883 sloppy1883 slushy1889 sentimentalistic1904 marshmallowy1907 hearts and flowers1911 slobby1913 soppy1918 meltyc1921 lavender1928 saccharescent1930 schmaltzya1934 sloshy1933 gooey1935 icky1938 cheesy1943 drippy1952 soupy1953 squishy1953 saccharined1962 gloopy1965 yechy1969 yucky1970 sucky1971 yuck1971 schmoozy1976 1774 Westm. Mag. 2 145 A namby-pamby Duke. 1774 T. Davies in J. Granger Lett. (1805) 60 Certain namby-pamby people were never to be satisfied. 1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 81. 648 Sweet smirking troops, In coats of green, and namby pamby pride. 1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xlii. 383 She was..a namby-pamby milk-and-water affected creature. 1883 Fortn. Rev. Sept. 384 An amount of curious facts which namby-pamby travellers hesitate to tell. 1904 J. London Sea-wolf ii. 20 Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream. And they were not namby-pamby oaths, or mere expressions of indecency. 1913 Bulletin (San Francisco) 3 Apr. 15/2 in Comments on Etymol. (2000) May 14 It will not be a namby-pamby [baseball] club, but a straight out-and-out band of fighters. 1954 Astounding Sci. Fiction Sept. 16/2 I like quarrelling. If you're going to go namby-pamby and pally-wally on me, I'll go find someone else. 1971 D. H. Robinson Raj xxviii. 283 He had always looked on wickets as a posh game, namby-pamby. 2014 R. W. Greene Lost at School viii. 263 ‘You want me to be part of the process of turning the school discipline program into some namby-pamby, permissive—’ ‘Plan B is not namby-pamby. And it's not permissive, either.’ B. n. †1. Weakly sentimental insipid style or writing; an example of this. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [noun] > feeble sentimentality > writing namby-pamby1757 namby-pambics1766 1757 J. Byrom Remarks Pamphlet in Misc. Poems (1773) I. 212 Forbid the Gallic Namby Pamby Here to repeat its crazy Crambe. a1764 R. Lloyd Cobbler of Cripplegate While namby-pamby thus you scribble. 1801 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1802) 5 284 An ode which he has just composed in praise of Inanity, or Namby Pamby. 1814 T. L. Peacock Wks. (1875) III. 129 Mr. W. R. Spenser, a writer of fantastical namby-pambies. 1838 T. B. Macaulay Sir W. Temple in Ess. (1903) II. 260 Passages in which raillery and tenderness are mixed in a very engaging namby-pamby. 1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. vi. 285 That unlucky taste for the namby-pamby by which Wordsworth annoyed his contemporaries. 1894 G. A. Sala Things I have Seen II. xiv. 135 The words in the songs..were not always sickly namby-pamby. 2. A weak, fussy, or affected person. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > insubstantial > frivolous or not serious pickstraw1580 Jack with the feather1581 fiddler1591 fribble1610 trifler1612 fribbler1712 toyer1814 frivolist1884 namby-pamby1885 frivoller1889 footler1891 frivol1959 1885 Athenæum 17 Oct. 498/1 He is excellent..on Haydon passim; about the namby-pambies of the time he writes as becomes the author of the ‘Book of Snobs’. 1946 Sunday Disp. 8 Sept. 6/4 Speedway is no place for the namby-pamby or the coward. 1962 P. Scott Birds of Paradise (1967) IV. iii. 237 But she loved Krish more, even though she thought him a bit of a namby-pamby in comparison. 1989 P. Mayle Year in Provence (1990) 162 Miserable namby-pambies who didn't want to get their boots dirty in the forest. 2014 Z. Wicomb October 55 Butter on roosterbrood?.. It appears that only namby-pambies, or is it the gluttonous, would butter such bread. Derivatives † namby-pambyish adj. Obsolete somewhat namby-pamby. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > feebly sentimental snivelling1673 namby-pamby1733 namby-pambical1761 treacly1800 namby-pambyish1825 keepsaky1871 soapy1889 keepsake1898 lipsticky1931 corny1932 gloppy1976 1825 E. Gerard Lett. in Rhyme 179 Your fable's namby-pamby-ish, indeed, But not so faulty for a first essay. 1832 Examiner 517/1 The words..are namby-pambyish. 1855 H. M. Stephens Hagar the Martyr 74 He was just her style of a man; nothing effeminate or namby-pambyish, but bold as a hawk. ˈnamby-ˈpambyness n. the quality of being namby-pamby; weak sentimentality. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [noun] > feeble sentimentality namby-pambyness1823 namby-pambyism1834 1823 Sporting Mag. May 126/2 Prejudiced as I am, against the usual namby-pamby-ness of performances in water-colours [etc.]. 1871 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 15 Dec. (1955) V. 226 That keepsakey, impossible face..which has been engraved for the Life in all it [sic] odious namby-pambyness beautification. 1914 Unity (Chicago) 23 Apr. 123/1 What these ladies lack is more hard sense and less soft sense; more robustness and less namby-pamby-ness. 2014 M.-H. Bertino 2 A.M. at Cat's Pajamas 114 Georgie's oblivion, Bella's selfobsession, Michael's namby-pamby-ness. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). namby-pambyv. Brit. /ˌnambɪˈpambi/, U.S. /ˌnæmbiˈpæmbi/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: namby-pamby adj. Etymology: < namby-pamby adj. transitive. To treat (a person) as a namby-pamby; to coddle. Also intransitive: to act indulgently, weakly, or effeminately. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > say in a particular manner [verb (transitive)] > say in other sort of manner rifta1400 abraida1500 rumblec1520 mince1549 roll1561 slaver1599 troll1631 yawn1718 buzz1763 gurgle1805 namby-pamby1812 sibilate1837 ripple1890 nicker1929 1812 M. Edgeworth Absentee xvi, in Tales Fashionable Life VI. 395 A lady of quality..sends me..her waiting gentlewoman to namby-pamby me. 1837 T. Carlyle Misc. Ess. (1847) iii. 376 She has had to work her way..; wheedling, eaves-dropping, namby-pambying. 1982 S. Townsend Secret Diary Adrian Mole 25 I asked my mother for a note to excuse me from Games. She said she refused to namby-pamby me a day longer. 2001 Indianapolis Star (Nexis) 16 Apr. e7 How long before they quit namby-pambying around with these survival shows and give us real gladiator contests as entertainment? This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.1733v.1812
随便看	to say out one's say to say over to say pretty things to say shortly to say something for to say sorry to say that for to say that the moon is blue to say the compass to say the hard word to say the least to say the least of it to say the truth to say the word to say the worst to say tilt to say truth to say uncle to say well by to say well of to say yea to say yes to scab a job to scab off to scale

namby-pambyadj.n.

Derivatives

namby-pambyv.