| 释义 |
▪ I. swank, n.1 dial.
[?]
(See quots.)
1726Bailey (ed. 3), A swank (at Bocking in Essex) that Remainder of Liquor at the Bottom of a Tankard, Pot or Cup, which is just sufficient for one Draught; which is not accounted good Manners to divide with the left Hand Man; and according to the Quantity is called either a large or a little Swank. 1813Monthly Mag. XXXVI. 520 [At Braintree, Essex] A pint of beer is divided into three parts or draughts; the first is called Neckum, the second Sinkum, and the third Swank or Swankum.
▪ II. swank, n.2 slang.|swæŋk|
[see swank v.]
1. Ostentatious or pretentious behaviour or talk; swagger; pretence.
1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Swank, an ostentatious air, an affectation of stateliness in the walk. ‘What a swank he cuts!’ 1891Hartland Gloss., Swank, s. and v., swagger. 1905Daily Chron. 17 Apr. 6/2 What he said is quite true, barring the whisky—that is all swank. 1909Westm. Gaz. 26 Jan. 4/1 ‘Swank,’ they realised, was the essential qualification for success in the new industry, believing that firms just awaking to its possibilities and the public would take them at their own valuation.
2. = swanker2.
1913V. Sackville-West Let. 15 Feb. in V. Glendinning Vita (1983) v. 54 [He is] a swank, more swank than you could ever dream of. 1923‘R. Crompton’ William Again v. 91 He was a pariah, outside the pale, one of the ‘swanks’ who lived in big houses and talked soft. 1949W. C. Williams Autobiogr. xxxii. 190 We were not concerned with the moving-picture colony or the swanks.
▪ III. swank, a.1 Sc.
[app. a. MLG. swank, MDu. swanc flexible, supple, slender, = MHG. swanc (G. schwank); f. swank-, appearing also, with suffix, in OE. swancor pliant, supple, agile, MHG. swankel supple, and parallel to swang-, appearing in ON. svangr thin, lean, swong, svangi swange, early mod.G. schwang (= schwank).
For other derivatives of the widespread swink-: swank- and swing-: swang-, see swink, swench, swing, swinge, swenge.]
Agile, active, nimble.
1786Burns To Auld Mare iii, A filly buirdly, steeve, an' swank. 1901‘Ian Maclaren’ Yng. Barbarians iv. (ed. 3) 68 Ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows that can run. 1912Blackw. Mag. Apr. 487/2 To ride among the swank, well⁓fed lads in the Bewcastle chase.
▪ IV. swank, a.2 colloq. (chiefly U.S.).|swæŋk|
[f. swank n.2 or v.]
Stylish; ‘posh’, ‘classy’. (Freq. applied to shops, hotels, or apartments.)
1913[see swank n.2 2]. 1919W. Deeping Second Youth xvii. 145 Look here, come for a ride. Had this new swank machine just a week. 1928Publishers' Weekly 30 June 2578 From honor and riches to poverty and shame—from the swankest hunting set of England to a garret in the Latin Quarter of Paris. 1947D. Riesman in University Observer Winter 20/1 John..refuses to angle for the mastership of..one of the swank Harvard Houses. 1957L. Stern Midas Touch i. xii. 98 These were the women..who patronized the swank Michigan Avenue specialty shops. 1972‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) xx. 179 He was thrilled at having a swank apartment. 1981R. Barnard Mother's Boys i. 12 Have you got a big box of chocks? Something real swank?
▪ V. swank, v. slang.|swæŋk|
[A midl. and s.w. dial. word taken into general slang use at the beginning of the 20th cent.
The etymological meaning is uncertain, but perh. the orig. notion is that of swinging the body, and the word is ultimately related to OHG., MHG. swanc swinging motion, MHG. swanken (G. schwanken) to sway, totter, etc. (cf. swank a.1).
The immediate source of sense 2 (= swink v.) is prob. different, but ultimate identity of origin may be presumed.]
1. a. intr. To behave ostentatiously, to swagger; also, to pretend by one's behaviour to be something superior to what one is; gen. to make pretence.
1809Batchelor Anal. Eng. Lang. 144 (Bedfordshire dialect) Swangk, to strut. 1848Evans Leic. Words & Phrases s.v., I met him swanking along the road, ever so genteel. 1903A. McNeill Egregious Englishm. x, To see your wife in the Peeresses' Gallery on great occasions, and your sons swanking about town with Hon. before their names.
b. To boast.
1874Hotten Slang Dict. 316 Swank, to boast or ‘gas’ unduly. 1914G. B. Shaw Fanny's First Play iii. 211, I used to boast about what a good boy Bobby was. Now I swank about what a dog he is; and it pleases people just as well. 1950Sport 7–13 Apr. 9/2 Lest I may appear to be swanking, let me hasten to add that all of the credit went to someone else. 1960J. Rae Custard Boys i. vii. 80 ‘You think that I am swanking too much, John?’ With his accent the slang word sounded very strange. 1980London Rev. Bks. 17 Apr. 6/2 Anonymity..is no guarantee against a tendency on the part of informants to swank about their supposed religious experiences.
2. To work hard, to ‘swot’.
1890Barrère & Leland Slang Dict., Swank (public and military schools), to work hard. 1911A. G. C. Through College Keyhole (Cambr.) 11 E'en have I dreamed of a minute Swanking to claim a degree. |