reach-me-downadj.n.

Brit.

/ˈriːtʃmɪˌdaʊn/, U.S.

/ˈritʃmiˌdaʊn/

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: reach v.¹, me pron.¹, down adv.

Etymology: < reach v.¹ + me pron.¹ + down adv., with reference to taking ready-made clothes down from a rail in a shop. Compare off-the-peg adv., off-the-peg adj.With later use in senses A. 1 and B. 1 compare hand-me-down adj., hand-me-down n.

A. adj.

a. Of a garment: ready-made rather than made to order; = ready-to-wear adj. 1, off-the-peg adj. Also in later use: cast-off, second hand.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > cast-off

casten1493

cast1597

cast-off1746

hand-me-down1826

reach-me-down1861

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > made in specific way > ready to wear

ready-made1631

reach-me-down1861

ready-to-wear1890

prêt-à-porter1957

off-the-peg1959

off-the-rack1964

1861 W. M. Thackeray Adventures of Philip xxiv, in Cornhill Mag. Nov. 552 The most splendid reach-me-down dressing gowns.

1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 Jan. 4/1 The reach-me-down finery of the East-end exquisite.

1899 Harper's Mag. Mar. 594/1 Careless workmanship is apt to be put into the ‘reach-me-down’ garment, the ‘just-as-good’ bicycle, and the ready-made article of any sort.

1952 S. J. Perelman in Holiday Apr. 59/1 He wore a reach-me-down mackinaw, a pair of mismated overshoes, and a yellow sou'wester by courtesy of Scott's Emulsion.

1978 ‘A. Garve’ Counterstroke i. 63 He'd get the standard outfit—reach-me-down suit, underclothes, shoes.

2013 C. Collins Sleepless in Las Vegas iv. 64 When she was a kid, she'd loathed reach-me-down—secondhand—clothes, and had sworn that when she grew up she'd always buy off-the-rack.

†b. Of a shop: that sells ready-made clothing; (also) characterized by or suggestive of ready-made clothing. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1869 Young Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 674 We preferred going to a reach-me-down store, as Prawle styled it.

1906 ‘H. Hill’ Duke decides i. 7/2 Of the reach-me-down shops from which New York clerks clothe themselves.

1914 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 16 July 8/5 This kind of woman has attained the dizziest altitudes of reach-me-down dishevelment. She has exalted untidiness into a fine art.

1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence xvii. 156 One was a shaggy yellow ulster of ‘reach-me-down’ cut, the other a very old and rusty cloak with a cape.

2. In extended use: ready-made; hackneyed, unoriginal; of inferior quality.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [adjective]

salec1299

bastarda1348

sorry1372

slight1393

shrewd1426

singlec1449

backc1450

soberc1450

lesser1464

silly?a1500

starven1546

mockado1577

subaltern1578

bastardly1583

wooden1592

starved1604

perishing1605

starveling1611

minor1612

starvy1647

potsherd1655

low1727

la-la1800

waif1824

lathen1843

one-eyed1843

snide1859

bobbery1873

jerkwater1877

low-grade1878

shoddy1882

tinhorn1886

jerk1893

cheapie1898

shaganappi1900

buckeye1906

reach-me-down1907

pissy1922

crappy1928

cruddy1935

el cheapo1967

pound shop1989

the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [adjective] > not original or derivative

secondary1398

borrowed1571

third hand1598

denominative1624

second hand1654

second-handed1682

of second hand1708

unoriginal1749

uninventive1776

unoriginative1845

uncreative1855

hand-me-down1881

reach-me-down1907

cookie cutter1922

1907 Mod. Lang. Notes 22 197/1 Despite some wise remarks about cheap and slang phraseology, the compilers use such English as ‘reach-me-down archaisms’.

1914 G. B. Shaw in New Statesman 14 Nov. 19/2 Europe has a stock of ready-made constitutions... It is therefore quite possible that a reach-me-down constitution..might prove acceptable.

1951 C. Day Lewis Lyrical Poetry of Thomas Hardy in Proc. Brit. Acad. 37 158 Often..Hardy seems to lose all touch with his medium, and will dress up his subjects in the shoddiest, reach-me-down verse.

1976 Glasgow Herald 26 Nov. 5/5 Daniel Wayenberg's programme of works by Brahms, Bartok, Ravel and Mussorgsky proved an admirable one with not a reach-me-down sonata in sight.

2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Apr. 15/3 Reach-me-down literary history would say that Prince and Campbell, like many others, left for cultural rather than strictly political reasons.

B. n.

a. An article of ready-made clothing. In later-use esp.: an article of second hand clothing; a hand-me-down. Frequently in plural.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > second hand > article of

hand-me-down1835

reach-me-down1861

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > manufactured in specific way > ready-to-wear

hand-me-down1835

reach-me-down1861

ready-made1882

confection1885

ready-to-wear1894

prêt-à-porter1959

1861 Times 3 Sept. 8/4 His loose fitting coat was of irreproachable cut; his waistcoat, no ‘reach-me-down’, but fitting without creases.

1884 World 3 Dec. 13/1 The wide-awakes, billycocks, ulsters, and reach-me-downs.

1909 New Castle (Pa.) News 19 Feb. 9/1 No Frenchwoman, however poor, dresses as we do in ready made clothes; she would not dream of buying the first reach-me-down hanging in a shop.

1928 D. Byrne Destiny Bay i. 117 A small rat-faced man in a suit of reach-me-downs.

1931 R. Church High Summer iv. vi. 322 ‘Buy a..ready-made suit’... ‘Not even the prospect of saving Filosilk from irretrievable ruin could induce me to wear a reach-me-down.’

1981 Times 12 Mar. 10/8 The costumes..look..like tattered reach-me-downs from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

1987 R. Manning Corridor of Mirrors ix. 104 I was burdened with reach-me-downs, from my cousin Alison, a little older than myself.

2002 H. Jacobson Who's Sorry Now? i. iii. 67 How long could you spend in front of Cressida's rickety coat-stands of reach-me-downs and tattered heirlooms?

b. In extended use: a stock, derivative, or inferior idea, work, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [noun]

poornessa1382

chaffc1386

cold roast?1406

arse-guta1413

short end1560

under-kind1571

inferior1589

canvas-back1605

underthing1620

under-sort1655

wasteling1750

slouch1767

shamea1771

neck beefa1777

rep1786

wastrel1790

wastera1800

shoddy1862

piece1884

tinhorn1887

robbo1897

cheapie1898

buckeye1906

reach-me-down1916

dog1917

stinkeroo1934

bodgie1964

cheapo1975

the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [noun] > want of originality > something derivative

hand-me-down1889

reach-me-down1916

1916 G. B. Shaw Pygmalion 191 The rest of the story..would hardly need telling if our imaginations were not so enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of ‘happy endings’ to misfit all stories.

1945 Greece & Rome 14 21 To put the case rather differently and less exactly, Ennius and Homer wear reach-me-downs from the shelf: Virgil prefers tailor-mades.

1963 Times 28 Jan. 6/3 Ministers realize..that there would be acute political difficulties in dressing the shop window with the cast-off reach-me-downs of policy from years ago.

1992 Musical Times 133 350/1 The shabby reach-me-downs of piano vamping.

2. In plural. Trousers. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers

trouse1678

trousers1681

kicks1699

trousiesa1713

brogues1748

inexpressibles1790

unmentionable1791

et cetera1794

indescribable1794

kickseys1819

ineffables1823

indispensablesa1828

unimaginable1833

pantaloon1834

pants1835

inexplicables1836

never-mention-'ems1836

unwhisperable1837

results1839

sit-down-upons1839

sit-upons1839

unmentionabilities1840

innominablea1843

unutterables1843

trews1847

round-the-houses1857

unprintable1860

stovepipe1863

sit-in-ems1873

reach-me-downs1877

strides1889

rounds1893

long1898

kecks1900

rammies1906

trou1911

pants1970

1877 W. Besant & J. Rice With Harp & Crown xv. 148 Two new pairs of second-hand machine-made reach-me-downs.

1905 Westm. Gaz. 20 Apr. 2/1 There is a gentleman in pegtop reach-me-downs (I believe this is the correct method in America of describing that portion of gentleman's attire which a lady is never supposed to notice).

1907 Daily Chron. 18 Jan. 9/5 A stout colonel, who evidently thought full-length reach-me-downs and gaiters..suited to his rank.

1979 G. Mitchell Mudflats of Dead ix. 96 Tatty old reach-me-downs..and a gosh-awful dirty sweater.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	reach-me-down
释义	reach-me-downadj.n. Brit. /ˈriːtʃmɪˌdaʊn/, U.S. /ˈritʃmiˌdaʊn/ Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: reach v.¹, me pron.¹, down adv. Etymology: < reach v.¹ + me pron.¹ + down adv., with reference to taking ready-made clothes down from a rail in a shop. Compare off-the-peg adv., off-the-peg adj.With later use in senses A. 1 and B. 1 compare hand-me-down adj., hand-me-down n. A. adj. 1. a. Of a garment: ready-made rather than made to order; = ready-to-wear adj. 1, off-the-peg adj. Also in later use: cast-off, second hand. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > cast-off casten1493 cast1597 cast-off1746 hand-me-down1826 reach-me-down1861 the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > made in specific way > ready to wear ready-made1631 reach-me-down1861 ready-to-wear1890 prêt-à-porter1957 off-the-peg1959 off-the-rack1964 1861 W. M. Thackeray Adventures of Philip xxiv, in Cornhill Mag. Nov. 552 The most splendid reach-me-down dressing gowns. 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 Jan. 4/1 The reach-me-down finery of the East-end exquisite. 1899 Harper's Mag. Mar. 594/1 Careless workmanship is apt to be put into the ‘reach-me-down’ garment, the ‘just-as-good’ bicycle, and the ready-made article of any sort. 1952 S. J. Perelman in Holiday Apr. 59/1 He wore a reach-me-down mackinaw, a pair of mismated overshoes, and a yellow sou'wester by courtesy of Scott's Emulsion. 1978 ‘A. Garve’ Counterstroke i. 63 He'd get the standard outfit—reach-me-down suit, underclothes, shoes. 2013 C. Collins Sleepless in Las Vegas iv. 64 When she was a kid, she'd loathed reach-me-down—secondhand—clothes, and had sworn that when she grew up she'd always buy off-the-rack. †b. Of a shop: that sells ready-made clothing; (also) characterized by or suggestive of ready-made clothing. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1869 Young Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 674 We preferred going to a reach-me-down store, as Prawle styled it. 1906 ‘H. Hill’ Duke decides i. 7/2 Of the reach-me-down shops from which New York clerks clothe themselves. 1914 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 16 July 8/5 This kind of woman has attained the dizziest altitudes of reach-me-down dishevelment. She has exalted untidiness into a fine art. 1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence xvii. 156 One was a shaggy yellow ulster of ‘reach-me-down’ cut, the other a very old and rusty cloak with a cape. 2. In extended use: ready-made; hackneyed, unoriginal; of inferior quality. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [adjective] salec1299 bastarda1348 sorry1372 slight1393 shrewd1426 singlec1449 backc1450 soberc1450 lesser1464 silly?a1500 starven1546 mockado1577 subaltern1578 bastardly1583 wooden1592 starved1604 perishing1605 starveling1611 minor1612 starvy1647 potsherd1655 low1727 la-la1800 waif1824 lathen1843 one-eyed1843 snide1859 bobbery1873 jerkwater1877 low-grade1878 shoddy1882 tinhorn1886 jerk1893 cheapie1898 shaganappi1900 buckeye1906 reach-me-down1907 pissy1922 crappy1928 cruddy1935 el cheapo1967 pound shop1989 the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [adjective] > not original or derivative secondary1398 borrowed1571 third hand1598 denominative1624 second hand1654 second-handed1682 of second hand1708 unoriginal1749 uninventive1776 unoriginative1845 uncreative1855 hand-me-down1881 reach-me-down1907 cookie cutter1922 1907 Mod. Lang. Notes 22 197/1 Despite some wise remarks about cheap and slang phraseology, the compilers use such English as ‘reach-me-down archaisms’. 1914 G. B. Shaw in New Statesman 14 Nov. 19/2 Europe has a stock of ready-made constitutions... It is therefore quite possible that a reach-me-down constitution..might prove acceptable. 1951 C. Day Lewis Lyrical Poetry of Thomas Hardy in Proc. Brit. Acad. 37 158 Often..Hardy seems to lose all touch with his medium, and will dress up his subjects in the shoddiest, reach-me-down verse. 1976 Glasgow Herald 26 Nov. 5/5 Daniel Wayenberg's programme of works by Brahms, Bartok, Ravel and Mussorgsky proved an admirable one with not a reach-me-down sonata in sight. 2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Apr. 15/3 Reach-me-down literary history would say that Prince and Campbell, like many others, left for cultural rather than strictly political reasons. B. n. 1. a. An article of ready-made clothing. In later-use esp.: an article of second hand clothing; a hand-me-down. Frequently in plural. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > second hand > article of hand-me-down1835 reach-me-down1861 the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > manufactured in specific way > ready-to-wear hand-me-down1835 reach-me-down1861 ready-made1882 confection1885 ready-to-wear1894 prêt-à-porter1959 1861 Times 3 Sept. 8/4 His loose fitting coat was of irreproachable cut; his waistcoat, no ‘reach-me-down’, but fitting without creases. 1884 World 3 Dec. 13/1 The wide-awakes, billycocks, ulsters, and reach-me-downs. 1909 New Castle (Pa.) News 19 Feb. 9/1 No Frenchwoman, however poor, dresses as we do in ready made clothes; she would not dream of buying the first reach-me-down hanging in a shop. 1928 D. Byrne Destiny Bay i. 117 A small rat-faced man in a suit of reach-me-downs. 1931 R. Church High Summer iv. vi. 322 ‘Buy a..ready-made suit’... ‘Not even the prospect of saving Filosilk from irretrievable ruin could induce me to wear a reach-me-down.’ 1981 Times 12 Mar. 10/8 The costumes..look..like tattered reach-me-downs from the Royal Shakespeare Company. 1987 R. Manning Corridor of Mirrors ix. 104 I was burdened with reach-me-downs, from my cousin Alison, a little older than myself. 2002 H. Jacobson Who's Sorry Now? i. iii. 67 How long could you spend in front of Cressida's rickety coat-stands of reach-me-downs and tattered heirlooms? b. In extended use: a stock, derivative, or inferior idea, work, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [noun] poornessa1382 chaffc1386 cold roast?1406 arse-guta1413 short end1560 under-kind1571 inferior1589 canvas-back1605 underthing1620 under-sort1655 wasteling1750 slouch1767 shamea1771 neck beefa1777 rep1786 wastrel1790 wastera1800 shoddy1862 piece1884 tinhorn1887 robbo1897 cheapie1898 buckeye1906 reach-me-down1916 dog1917 stinkeroo1934 bodgie1964 cheapo1975 the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [noun] > want of originality > something derivative hand-me-down1889 reach-me-down1916 1916 G. B. Shaw Pygmalion 191 The rest of the story..would hardly need telling if our imaginations were not so enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of ‘happy endings’ to misfit all stories. 1945 Greece & Rome 14 21 To put the case rather differently and less exactly, Ennius and Homer wear reach-me-downs from the shelf: Virgil prefers tailor-mades. 1963 Times 28 Jan. 6/3 Ministers realize..that there would be acute political difficulties in dressing the shop window with the cast-off reach-me-downs of policy from years ago. 1992 Musical Times 133 350/1 The shabby reach-me-downs of piano vamping. 2. In plural. Trousers. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers trouse1678 trousers1681 kicks1699 trousiesa1713 brogues1748 inexpressibles1790 unmentionable1791 et cetera1794 indescribable1794 kickseys1819 ineffables1823 indispensablesa1828 unimaginable1833 pantaloon1834 pants1835 inexplicables1836 never-mention-'ems1836 unwhisperable1837 results1839 sit-down-upons1839 sit-upons1839 unmentionabilities1840 innominablea1843 unutterables1843 trews1847 round-the-houses1857 unprintable1860 stovepipe1863 sit-in-ems1873 reach-me-downs1877 strides1889 rounds1893 long1898 kecks1900 rammies1906 trou1911 pants1970 1877 W. Besant & J. Rice With Harp & Crown xv. 148 Two new pairs of second-hand machine-made reach-me-downs. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 20 Apr. 2/1 There is a gentleman in pegtop reach-me-downs (I believe this is the correct method in America of describing that portion of gentleman's attire which a lady is never supposed to notice). 1907 Daily Chron. 18 Jan. 9/5 A stout colonel, who evidently thought full-length reach-me-downs and gaiters..suited to his rank. 1979 G. Mitchell Mudflats of Dead ix. 96 Tatty old reach-me-downs..and a gosh-awful dirty sweater. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.1861
随便看	θ61248 θ61249 θ6125 θ61250 θ61251 θ61252 θ61253 θ61254 θ61255 θ61256 θ61257 θ61258 θ61259 θ6126 θ61260 θ61261 θ61262 θ61263 θ61264 θ61265 θ61266 θ61267 θ61268 θ61269 θ6127