英语词汇elbow的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

elbow; elbow bender; elbow grease; elbowroom, etc. Elbow grease has been a term of “hard manual labor” since before 1639, B.E.’s Dictionary of the Canting Crew (ca. 1698) calling it “A derisory term for Sweat.” The old joke that elbow grease is the best brand of furniture polish was probably common cen- turies ago, too, in some form. The phrase was known in France from early times as well (huile de bras). Elbowroom, for plenty of room to move around so that people are not rubbing elbows, dates back to early-16th-century England, but it didn’t become popular here until British General John Burgoyne boasted in the 1770s that he’d find plenty of elbow room in America. El- bow bender, for “a habitual drinker,” someone who does little more than bend the elbow to lift a glass to his mouth, is also of ancient vintage in both languages. Out at the elbows, shabby, “down at the heels,” has aged equally well, Shakespeare using it in Measure For Measure: “He cannot [speak], Sir; he’s out at El- bows.” Elbowing, “jostling,” is another elbow term going back to Shakespeare’s time, and the Elizabethans used the term elbonic for “a rude, awkward verse or sentence that seemed to be push- ing with the elbow.” Elbow is from the Anglo-Saxon el, “length of arm,” plus bow, “bend.”

词汇	elbow
词源	elbow; elbow bender; elbow grease; elbowroom, etc. Elbow grease has been a term of “hard manual labor” since before 1639, B.E.’s Dictionary of the Canting Crew (ca. 1698) calling it “A derisory term for Sweat.” The old joke that elbow grease is the best brand of furniture polish was probably common cen- turies ago, too, in some form. The phrase was known in France from early times as well (huile de bras). Elbowroom, for plenty of room to move around so that people are not rubbing elbows, dates back to early-16th-century England, but it didn’t become popular here until British General John Burgoyne boasted in the 1770s that he’d find plenty of elbow room in America. El- bow bender, for “a habitual drinker,” someone who does little more than bend the elbow to lift a glass to his mouth, is also of ancient vintage in both languages. Out at the elbows, shabby, “down at the heels,” has aged equally well, Shakespeare using it in Measure For Measure: “He cannot [speak], Sir; he’s out at El- bows.” Elbowing, “jostling,” is another elbow term going back to Shakespeare’s time, and the Elizabethans used the term elbonic for “a rude, awkward verse or sentence that seemed to be push- ing with the elbow.” Elbow is from the Anglo-Saxon el, “length of arm,” plus bow, “bend.”
随便看	batty baubee baumanometer bavius bawdy bawdy houses bawl bawl out bayard bayberry bay bridge bay city bayer aspirin baying bay laurel tree bay of fundy tide bayonet bayou bay scallop bay state bay window bazaar bazooka bbc english beach glass