| 词源 |
throw down the gauntlet. The English language contains two wholly different words spelled and pronounced gauntlet. The gauntlet in this expression means glove and derives from the medieval French gantelet, “a little glove.” Knights of the age of chivalry, though not so noble as they seem in romances, did play by certain rules. When one knight wanted to cross swords with another, he issued a challenge by throwing down his mailed glove, or gauntlet, and his challenge was accepted if the other knight picked up the metal-plated leather glove. This cus- tom gave us the expression to throw down the gauntlet, “to make a serious challenge.” See run the gauntlet. |