| 释义 |
Swanee|ˈswɒnɪ|
Also Swannee.
[Var. of Suwannee, the name of a river in Georgia and Florida.]
1. Swanee whistle, a small woodwind instrument with a slide-plunger to vary the pitch, chiefly used as a toy. Also Swanee flute.
1926S. T. Warner Lolly Willowes ii. 114 She bought a Swanee flute. 1930R. Paget Human Speech 239 Various forms of mute for converting the whistle sound of a Swannee Whistle into a breathed sound. 1961A. C. Baines Mus. Instruments through Ages ix. 235 The Swanee whistle, scored for by Ravel in Les Enfants et les sortilèges, is also made by Indian children as a bamboo bird-pipe. 1962A. Nisbett Technique of Sound Studio x. 172 An object (or person) being thrown high into the air might be indicated by the use of a glide up and down on a swannee whistle (this is a whistle which has a slide piston to govern the pitch). 1978Times 15 July 2/4 (caption) Pupils..playing a Swanee whistle..and a Melodica, a wind keyboard. 1983Daily Tel. 23 June 18/4 The piece, to be recited by the composer himself, is performed on toy clarinets, saxophones, rattles, swanee whistles, plastic hosepipes and paper-bags.
2. to go down the Swanee = to go down the drain s.v. drain n. 1 e; to become ruined or bankrupt. Cf. river n.1 4 c. slang.
1977Observer 21 Aug. 1/3 A senior Leyland convener..called on the Government to give Leyland ‘latitude’ in settling its pay problems. Without that, he said, the company ‘would go down the Swanee’. |