词源 |
mule; no pride of ancestry, no hope of posterity. The long- eared, short-maned mule takes its name from Latin mulus meaning the same. Mules are said to have “no pride of ancestry, no hope of posterity” because they are sterile beasts of burden, being the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Maybe the mule has a posterity of sorts in expressions like stubborn as a mule and the old term mule for a smuggler or person who de- livers contraband, especially drugs. |