英语词汇silhouette的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

silhouette. Madame de Pompadour had her friend Étienne de Silhouette appointed France’s controller general in 1759, but was probably disappointed with the results. Silhouette, then 50, proceeded to try to get France back on her feet after the bank- ruptcy brought about by the Seven Years’ War, not to mention the luxury-loving court where La Pompadour set the style and spent more than anyone else. The new minister started out well enough, raising a 72 million-livre loan, but he soon placed re- strictions on the spending of Louis XV himself, proposed a land tax on the estates of nobles, and ordered a cut in govern- ment pensions. This naturally angered the nobles, who often found ways to circumvent Silhouette’s reforms, and the minis- ter trotted out plans to levy an income tax, triple the poll tax on bachelors, institute a luxury tax, and levy a stringent sales tax. People generally thought such reforms cheap, capricious, and petty, resenting the sacrifices demanded, and when financiers boycotted his treasury operations, Silhouette was forced to re- sign less than nine months after he took office. In the mean- time, his parsimonious regulations had inspired the phrase á la silhouette, “according to Silhouette,” or “on the cheap.” Pants without pockets—and who needed pockets with such confisca- tory taxes—were said to be made á la silhouette, as were snuff- boxes constructed with wood, and coats that were required to be fashioned without folds. The term was also applied to shad- ow portraits made by tracing the outline of a profile and fill- ing it in with black, or cutting the outline out of black paper. These were called portraits á la silhouette, cheap portraits in the fashion of Silhouette, and soon became known simply as silhouettes.

词汇	silhouette
词源	silhouette. Madame de Pompadour had her friend Étienne de Silhouette appointed France’s controller general in 1759, but was probably disappointed with the results. Silhouette, then 50, proceeded to try to get France back on her feet after the bank- ruptcy brought about by the Seven Years’ War, not to mention the luxury-loving court where La Pompadour set the style and spent more than anyone else. The new minister started out well enough, raising a 72 million-livre loan, but he soon placed re- strictions on the spending of Louis XV himself, proposed a land tax on the estates of nobles, and ordered a cut in govern- ment pensions. This naturally angered the nobles, who often found ways to circumvent Silhouette’s reforms, and the minis- ter trotted out plans to levy an income tax, triple the poll tax on bachelors, institute a luxury tax, and levy a stringent sales tax. People generally thought such reforms cheap, capricious, and petty, resenting the sacrifices demanded, and when financiers boycotted his treasury operations, Silhouette was forced to re- sign less than nine months after he took office. In the mean- time, his parsimonious regulations had inspired the phrase á la silhouette, “according to Silhouette,” or “on the cheap.” Pants without pockets—and who needed pockets with such confisca- tory taxes—were said to be made á la silhouette, as were snuff- boxes constructed with wood, and coats that were required to be fashioned without folds. The term was also applied to shad- ow portraits made by tracing the outline of a profile and fill- ing it in with black, or cutting the outline out of black paper. These were called portraits á la silhouette, cheap portraits in the fashion of Silhouette, and soon became known simply as silhouettes.
随便看	don’t make two bites of a cherry don’t play games with me don’t poke one-s nose into it don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today don’t say it if you can grunt it don’t sell the steak sell the sizzle don’t stick your neck out don’t take any wooden nickels don’t that take the rag off the bush don’t want to pick up that snake now don’t wash your dirty linen in public don’t write it if you can say it doodlebug doo-doo doofus doolally dooley doolittle do’d it doorbuster doornail doo-wop dope dopey doppelganger dorado