Pygmalionn.adj.adv.

Brit.

/pɪɡˈmeɪlɪən/, U.S.

/pɪɡˈmeɪliən/

Forms: also occasionally with lower-case initial.

Origin: From a proper name. Etymon: proper name Pygmalion.

Etymology: < Pygmalion (classical Latin Pygmaliōn, Hellenistic Greek Πυγμαλίων), the name of a king of Cyprus who, in Greek mythology, fashioned an ivory statue of a beautiful woman and loved it so deeply that in answer to his prayer Aphrodite gave it life. In later use influenced by the name of the play Pygmalion (1912) by George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), which features a character, Henry Higgins (a professor of phonetics), who falls in love with a Cockney flower girl whom he is teaching (for a bet) to speak with a genteel accent and thereby enter polite society.

A. n.

A person likened to Pygmalion. In later use also: a mentor, spec. a male mentor of a woman.Later use is influenced by the character of Henry Higgins in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion.

ΚΠ

1598 E. Guilpin Satyra Secunda in Skialetheia sig. C6^v Then how is man turned all Pygmalion, That knowing these pictures, yet we doate vpon The painted statues?

1650 J. Reynolds Flower of Fidelitie 72 Thinking that at the request of some second Pygmalion, the Goddesse Venus had with life likewise inspired her.

1799 tr. A. van Kotzebue Writing-desk iii. v. 73 There are still many Pygmalions in the world that would rejoice if their statues should animate me.

1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xi. 117 If he has made some effort extraordinarily successful, our young Pygmalion hides away the masterpiece, and he paints the beauty with all his skill.

1886 Harper's Mag. May 629/2 And your friend Ralph Dexter was the Pygmalion who sought to warm this cold beauty into life?

1926 Mod. Lang. Notes 41 329 The young couple, assisted by the respective ‘Pygmalions’, set up successfully in shop-keeping.

1996 P. Robertson Guilty Pleasures iii. 92 Married to these modern Pygmalions, who introduced her to Hollywood high society and the New York intelligentsia,..[she] changed to suit each new role.

2002 G.-C. Guilbert Madonna as Postmodern Myth i. 10 Some stars are self-constructed.., others are the toys of Pygmalions whose inspiration varies in quantity and quality.

B. adj.

1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of Pygmalion. In later use also: reminiscent or characteristic of the plot of, or the character of Henry Higgins in, the play Pygmalion.

ΚΠ

1820 C. R. Maturin Melmoth III. xix. 320 She..moves on like a statue..till the Pygmalion-touch warms her into woman.

1870 E. Sargent Woman who Dared ii. 17 She has labored hard to mould a bust or statue, but the clay lacked the Pygmalion touch beneath her hands.

1967 C. Cockburn I, Claud xvii. 195 The ‘tip-top’ English clothes which Otto, by now quite intoxicated with his particular Pygmalion act, thought desirable.

1996 Macleans 4 Mar. 79/1 The story is a Pygmalion romance about a failed beauty contestant from a Reno trailer park who is groomed to become a star journalist.

2005 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Feb. 31/1 There is a Pygmalion complex in research where you fall in love with your own work.

2. Of an utterance, word, etc.: that is regarded as mildly shocking or offensive; that is or contains a swear word.With allusion to the use of ‘bloody’ in G. B. Shaw's Pygmalion: see note at sense C.

ΚΠ

1914 Financial Times 14 July 7/2 Counsel asked a witness if he used a ‘Pygmalion’ expression. It is alleged that witness replied he was Shaw (sure) he did not.

1960 Times 28 Apr. 14/5 The trouble really began when Alderman Mrs. K. Sheridan was speaking about the council fleecing tenants and used a pygmalion word.

1967 A. Wilson No Laughing Matter ii. 96 You bloody bird! No, no, Mouse, Mr Polly and I were just talking Pygmalion talk!

2002 Independent (Nexis) 2 Mar. 47 The opening scene would have been just as funny without the swearing. Of course there is room for the odd Pygmalion word.

C. adv.

As a jocular euphemism: = bloody adv. 2. Chiefly in not Pygmalion likely: ‘not bloody likely’.Used with reference to the fact that Shaw's Pygmalion included the phrase ‘not bloody likely’ in Act iii (see quot. 1914 at bloody adv. 2b) and was the occasion of a public sensation at the time of the first London production in 1914.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > very

tooc888

swith971

wellOE

fullOE

rightc1175

muchc1225

wellac1275

gainlya1375

endlyc1440

hard?1440

very1448

odda1500

great1535

jolly1549

fellc1600

veryvery1649

gooda1655

vastly1664

strange1667

bloody1676

ever so1686

heartily1727

real1771

precious1775

quarely1805

murry1818

très1819

freely1820

powerfula1822

gurt1824

almighty1830

heap1832

all-fired1833

gradely1850

real1856

bonny1857

heavens1858

veddy1859

canny1867

some1867

oh-so1881

storming1883

spanking1886

socking1896

hefty1898

velly1898

fair dinkum1904

plurry1907

Pygmalion1914

dinkum1915

beaucoup1918

dirty1920

molto1923

snorting1924

honking1929

hellishing1931

thumpingly1948

way1965

mega1966

mondo1968

seriously1970

totally1972

mucho1978

stonking1990

1914 Tenedos Times (1917) 85 They are really useless—Quite pygmalion useless.

1918 Western Electric News May 26/2 Were we downhearted? not Pygmalion likely!

1926 D. L. Sayers Clouds of Witness xiii. 247 Not Pygmalion likely! Freddy? Couldn't write passionate letters in French to save his life.

1949 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) Add. 1121/1 Not Pygmalion likely! Not at all likely; certainly not!

1967 G. Fallon Rendezvous in Rio xiii. 106 ‘Are you thinking of joining in?’ ‘Not Pygmalion likely,’ Bland returned brusquely.

1976 Times 18 Mar. 11/5 My immediate reaction was to say, ‘Not Pygmalion likely’.

2004 Geelong (Austral.) Advertiser (Nexis) 24 May 36 Relax? Not Pygmalion likely! It's all got to be done again!

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	pygmalion
释义	Pygmalionn.adj.adv. Brit. /pɪɡˈmeɪlɪən/, U.S. /pɪɡˈmeɪliən/ Forms: also occasionally with lower-case initial. Origin: From a proper name. Etymon: proper name Pygmalion. Etymology: < Pygmalion (classical Latin Pygmaliōn, Hellenistic Greek Πυγμαλίων), the name of a king of Cyprus who, in Greek mythology, fashioned an ivory statue of a beautiful woman and loved it so deeply that in answer to his prayer Aphrodite gave it life. In later use influenced by the name of the play Pygmalion (1912) by George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), which features a character, Henry Higgins (a professor of phonetics), who falls in love with a Cockney flower girl whom he is teaching (for a bet) to speak with a genteel accent and thereby enter polite society. A. n. A person likened to Pygmalion. In later use also: a mentor, spec. a male mentor of a woman.Later use is influenced by the character of Henry Higgins in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion. ΚΠ 1598 E. Guilpin Satyra Secunda in Skialetheia sig. C6^v Then how is man turned all Pygmalion, That knowing these pictures, yet we doate vpon The painted statues? 1650 J. Reynolds Flower of Fidelitie 72 Thinking that at the request of some second Pygmalion, the Goddesse Venus had with life likewise inspired her. 1799 tr. A. van Kotzebue Writing-desk iii. v. 73 There are still many Pygmalions in the world that would rejoice if their statues should animate me. 1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xi. 117 If he has made some effort extraordinarily successful, our young Pygmalion hides away the masterpiece, and he paints the beauty with all his skill. 1886 Harper's Mag. May 629/2 And your friend Ralph Dexter was the Pygmalion who sought to warm this cold beauty into life? 1926 Mod. Lang. Notes 41 329 The young couple, assisted by the respective ‘Pygmalions’, set up successfully in shop-keeping. 1996 P. Robertson Guilty Pleasures iii. 92 Married to these modern Pygmalions, who introduced her to Hollywood high society and the New York intelligentsia,..[she] changed to suit each new role. 2002 G.-C. Guilbert Madonna as Postmodern Myth i. 10 Some stars are self-constructed.., others are the toys of Pygmalions whose inspiration varies in quantity and quality. B. adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of Pygmalion. In later use also: reminiscent or characteristic of the plot of, or the character of Henry Higgins in, the play Pygmalion. ΚΠ 1820 C. R. Maturin Melmoth III. xix. 320 She..moves on like a statue..till the Pygmalion-touch warms her into woman. 1870 E. Sargent Woman who Dared ii. 17 She has labored hard to mould a bust or statue, but the clay lacked the Pygmalion touch beneath her hands. 1967 C. Cockburn I, Claud xvii. 195 The ‘tip-top’ English clothes which Otto, by now quite intoxicated with his particular Pygmalion act, thought desirable. 1996 Macleans 4 Mar. 79/1 The story is a Pygmalion romance about a failed beauty contestant from a Reno trailer park who is groomed to become a star journalist. 2005 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Feb. 31/1 There is a Pygmalion complex in research where you fall in love with your own work. 2. Of an utterance, word, etc.: that is regarded as mildly shocking or offensive; that is or contains a swear word.With allusion to the use of ‘bloody’ in G. B. Shaw's Pygmalion: see note at sense C. ΚΠ 1914 Financial Times 14 July 7/2 Counsel asked a witness if he used a ‘Pygmalion’ expression. It is alleged that witness replied he was Shaw (sure) he did not. 1960 Times 28 Apr. 14/5 The trouble really began when Alderman Mrs. K. Sheridan was speaking about the council fleecing tenants and used a pygmalion word. 1967 A. Wilson No Laughing Matter ii. 96 You bloody bird! No, no, Mouse, Mr Polly and I were just talking Pygmalion talk! 2002 Independent (Nexis) 2 Mar. 47 The opening scene would have been just as funny without the swearing. Of course there is room for the odd Pygmalion word. C. adv. As a jocular euphemism: = bloody adv. 2. Chiefly in not Pygmalion likely: ‘not bloody likely’.Used with reference to the fact that Shaw's Pygmalion included the phrase ‘not bloody likely’ in Act iii (see quot. 1914 at bloody adv. 2b) and was the occasion of a public sensation at the time of the first London production in 1914. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > very tooc888 swith971 wellOE wellOE fullOE rightc1175 muchc1225 wellac1275 gainlya1375 endlyc1440 hard?1440 very1448 odda1500 great1535 jolly1549 fellc1600 veryvery1649 gooda1655 vastly1664 strange1667 bloody1676 ever so1686 heartily1727 real1771 precious1775 quarely1805 murry1818 très1819 freely1820 powerfula1822 gurt1824 almighty1830 heap1832 all-fired1833 gradely1850 real1856 bonny1857 heavens1858 veddy1859 canny1867 some1867 oh-so1881 storming1883 spanking1886 socking1896 hefty1898 velly1898 fair dinkum1904 plurry1907 Pygmalion1914 dinkum1915 beaucoup1918 dirty1920 molto1923 snorting1924 honking1929 hellishing1931 thumpingly1948 way1965 mega1966 mondo1968 seriously1970 totally1972 mucho1978 stonking1990 1914 Tenedos Times (1917) 85 They are really useless—Quite pygmalion useless. 1918 Western Electric News May 26/2 Were we downhearted? not Pygmalion likely! 1926 D. L. Sayers Clouds of Witness xiii. 247 Not Pygmalion likely! Freddy? Couldn't write passionate letters in French to save his life. 1949 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) Add. 1121/1 Not Pygmalion likely! Not at all likely; certainly not! 1967 G. Fallon Rendezvous in Rio xiii. 106 ‘Are you thinking of joining in?’ ‘Not Pygmalion likely,’ Bland returned brusquely. 1976 Times 18 Mar. 11/5 My immediate reaction was to say, ‘Not Pygmalion likely’. 2004 Geelong (Austral.) Advertiser (Nexis) 24 May 36 Relax? Not Pygmalion likely! It's all got to be done again! This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.adv.1598
随便看	come in upon a person's mind come in useful come in useful/helpful come in vogue come in will come in will to a person come in with come in with five eggs come in with one's five eggs come into come into a person's hands come into commons come into force come into it come into one's naked bed come into one's own come into operation come into play come into profit come into question come into sight come into the market come into the open come into the reckoning come into the world