| 释义 |
▪ I. tattle, n.|ˈtæt(ə)l|
Also 6 tatle: see also tittle-tattle.
[f. next. Cf. LG. tätel in same sense.]
The action of tattling; idle or frivolous talk; chatter, gossip.
a1529Tyttel tattyll [see tittle-tattle]. 1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 40 Amidst other tattle, they prattled of the beautie of Samela. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 57 At Gossipings, Funeralls, at Church before Sermons, and the like opportunities of tattle. 1713Swift Cadenus & Van. 320 They..told the tattle of the day. 1869Dixon Tower I. xviii. 215 All this tattle was repeated..to the Queen. 1895C. Gore Dissert. i. vi. 60 The reserve of the canonical and the vulgar tattle of the apocryphal Gospels.
b. with a and pl. A fit of tattling; a ‘gossip’. Now rare.
1583Babington Commandm. vii. (1590) 309 The dalying tatles of these courting dayes,..and the wanton greetings in euery place now vsed. 1612tr. Benvenuto's Passenger ii. i. §16 Like olde wiues tales, or tattles. 1783Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 485, I understand there have been some little tattles going between us. c1824Praed Pol. & Occ. Poems, Coronat. Chas. X, Three dukes were very nearly slain, Which would have made a tattle For many a day.
c. attrib. and Comb., as tattle-basket (cf. chatterbox), tattle-monger.
1736Ainsworth Lat. Dict. ii, Lingulaca,..(2) A prating gossip, a tattle-basket. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs iv, She knew..how all the tattle-mongers..watched the movements of the Snobkys with interest. 1874L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. ix. 272 A prosaic friendship, that has nothing in it at which the tattlemongers of this place may chatter.
▪ II. tattle, v.|ˈtæt(ə)l|
Also 8 tattel; pres. pple. and gerund 5–6 tatelyng(e, 5–7 tatling.
[Appears in Caxton's ‘Reynard the Fox’, 1481, where it reproduces MFlem. tatelen, a parallel form to the more usual MFlem., MDu., MLG., also Flem., Du., EFris. tateren (see tatter v.2), with exchange of frequentative suffixes -er, -el. LG. has also tateln, täteln to gabble, cackle (whence tatelgos gabbling goose), Brem. Wbch. Cf. also tittle v., and tittle-tattle, in LG. titeltateln. Ultimately onomatopœic.]
†1. intr. To speak hesitatingly, falter, stammer; esp. to prattle as a young child; to utter baby-talk.
1481[see tattling vbl. n. 1]. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 129 When the babe shall now begin to tattle and call hir Mamma. 1586Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 68 A childe..whose infancy tatling with a pleasant lisping sound, shall become an incredible delight to the Parents hearing. a1719Addison tr. Ovid, Birth Bacchus 40 In her trembling gate she [Juno] totters on, And learns to tattle in the Nurse's tone.
2. To utter small talk; to talk idly or lightly; to chatter, babble, prate; to chat, gossip.
1547[see tattling vbl. n. 2]. [ 1550: see tattler 1.]. a1568Bannatyne Poems (Hunter. Cl.) 1082 Louers must be tatling; Go to, good sir, you ar ane foole, yow dull me with your pratling. 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osorius 490 To tattle and clatter without Judgement of matters of Divinitie. 1668Dryden Evening's Love iii. i, I must tell you, sir, you have tattled long enough. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 153 ⁋14, I was tattling with my former freedom. 1838Lytton Alice iii. vii, She tattled on, first to one,..then to all.
b. transf. and fig.
1576–1881 [see tattling ppl. a. b]. 1600J. Lane Tom Tel-troth 37, I seeme to heare resounding Ecchoes tatling, Of misdemeanors raigning heere and there. a1603T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 581 The merite of this reliefe, whereof your by-note in the margent tatleth.
3. To talk without reticence so as to reveal secrets or private affairs; to blab, ‘tell tales’. (Now usually with mixture of sense 2.)
1581[see tattling ppl. a.]. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 211 To have exposed her to the tatling of tongues, was a thing he feared like death. 1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox v. 93 People of that Nature have never a greater itch to bee Tatling, than when they are commanded to be Silent, and the greater the danger is, the more are they tempted to reveal it. 1710Palmer Proverbs 197 When one of the gang tattles, confesses, and accuses the rest. 1876Holland Sev. Oaks xx, She had always been one whom they could have in their families..she never tattled.
4. trans. To utter, say, or tell over in tattling. Now rare.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 168 Then let the Ladies tattle what they please. 1593Tell-troth's N.Y. Gift (1876) 11 They will tatle tales. 1649Milton Eikon. xvii. 159 This intricate stuffe tattl'd here of Timothy and Titus and I know not whom thir Successors. 1729T. Cooke Tales, Proposals, etc. 57 What from the Frankness of your Soul you say, The Fool may tattel, and the Knave betray.
5. With advb. extension: To get or bring into some condition by tattling.
1751Johnson Rambler No. 108 ⁋10 Lest the hours..should be tattled away without regard to literature. 1838Lytton Alice iii. vii, She tattled on..till she had tattled herself out of breath.
Hence ˈtattlement, tattling, chatter.
1837Carlyle Misc. (1872) VI. 225 Poor little Lilias Baillie; tottering about there, with her foolish glad tattlement. |