| 词汇 | squib |
| 词源 | squib. A word of uncertain provenance that was first record- ed in the early 16th century, squib first meant “a short, witty, or sarcastic saying or writing.” Since then it has come to mean a variety of things, including a short news story or film; a type of small firecracker; and an electric device for firing a rocket en- gine igniter. In Australia squib means “coward.” Another inter- esting use of the word is the little-known movie term squib, meaning the vials or capsules containing a red liquid resem- bling blood that are wired to an actor’s body and exploded when the actor is violently killed or wounded in a film. For the machine-gun killing in The Godfather (1972), for example, ac- tor James Caan (“Sonny”) was wired with 147 vials. Surprising- ly, Hollywood hasn’t yet come up with a movie “vial rating sys- tem” for advertising purposes, as in: “A THREE-THOUSAND VIAL FILM!” |
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