| 释义 |
gimmick orig. U.S. slang.|ˈgɪmɪk|
[Origin unknown, but see quot. 1936.]
A gadget; spec. a contrivance for dishonestly regulating a gambling game, or an article used in a conjuring trick; now usu. a tricky or ingenious device, gadget, idea, etc., esp. one adopted for the purpose of attracting attention or publicity.
1926Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 8/2 Gimmick, device used for making a fair game crooked. 1926Amer. Speech II. 62/1 Every snipe endeavors to impress the poor swabbos with his talk of gillguys, gadgetts, and gimmicks. [1936Words Nov. 12/2 The word gimac means ‘a gadget’. It is an anagram of the word magic, and is used by magicians the same way as others use the word ‘thing-a-ma-bob’.] 1948J. Thurber Beast in Me (1949) 77 The wisecrack and the gag, the leg pull and the hotfoot, the gimmick and the switcheroo. 1951Manch. Guardian Weekly 5 July 3/1 Washington has suspected that a political ‘gimmick’ might be wrapped up in the Malik offer. 1952M. McCarthy Groves of Academe (1953) iv. 70 The perfect college they hinted at might exist on paper but it would never attract students, for it would have no selling-point, no gimmick, as they said in advertising. 1954Economist 21 Aug. 602/1 Completely new ‘gimmicks’, such as the aerosol can, which is packed under pressure and blows its contents out as required, have opened up new fields for the tin-plate container. 1957Observer 8 Sept. 9/5 Diamond..is unalarmed by Tory élan. His publicity gimmick, a small red diamond, is to be seen all over the city, sometimes stuck up in very curious places. 1958I. Brown Words in our Time 58 Many comedians have their gimmicks, either as catch-phrase, theme-song, or bit of ‘business’, which they exploit in most of their appearances. 1959‘P. Quentin’ Shadow of Guilt xvii. 163 This was his new gimmick, his new device for making himself seem absolutely harmless. 1960V. Nabokov Invitation to Beheading xii. 122 There are..all sorts of marvellous gimmicks. I remember, for instance when I was a child, there were objects called ‘nonnons’ that were popular. 1969Daily Tel. 1 Mar. 16/3 There is a growing tendency to use sport as a publicity gimmick for business. 1970New Society 5 Mar. 385/2 It's a market that..boomed briefly in the mid-sixties with gimmicks like paper dresses.
b. attrib. and Comb.
1953Economist 30 May 595/2 Some of Professor Triffin's colleagues at the conference were innately suspicious of what they called ‘gimmick solutions’ of this kind. 1958Spectator 14 Feb. 197/1 A weekly devoted to one blind purpose—the promotion of a single, gimmick-geared pattern of love and marriage. 1961New Left Rev. Jan.–Feb. 34/2 The speculators and gimmick-mongers. 1967Punch 29 Mar. 441/2, I am inviting fellow revolutionaries to refuse to buy all goods with attached gimmick offers.
Hence ˈgimmick v. trans., to provide with a gimmick; to alter or tamper with; hence gimmicked ppl. adj.; ˈgimmickless a., devoid of or free from a gimmick or gimmicks; ˈgimmick(e)ry, the use of gimmicks; gimmicks collectively; an abundance of gimmicks; ˈgimmicky a., employing or characterized by gimmicks; designed to attract attention or publicity.
1952Astounding Sci. Fiction Feb. 55, I could gimmick your machine. 1952N.Y. Times 9 Sept. 2/2 Senator Johnson's subcommittee also had attacked what it called excessive ‘gimmickery and gadgetry’ on today's war-planes. Ibid. 26 Oct. vi. 49/1 The Kennedy tea parties are a unique addition to the campaign gimmickry of one of the most spirited and critical Senatorial contests of the year. 1957Times 2 Dec. 7 (Advt.), What I thought I'd do was write a gimmicky ad with a screwy drawing, and people would be bound to read it. 1958Observer 28 Apr. 15/1 A Shakespeare play can be ripped apart by the twin steel claws of naturalism and gimmickry. 1959News Chron. 18 Nov. 6/7 Eisenhower's own favourite speech writer, the master ghost of those gimmicked years. 1959C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 55 I'm not sure I care for that gimmicky girl. 1962Times 9 Mar. 13/4 To declare oneself gimmickless is in these times to assert straightforward procedure. 1963Punch 16 Oct. 576/2 A good, straight, gimmickless lecture on painting. 1964New Statesman 6 Mar. 354/3 US policy in Vietnam has been a compote of gimmickry, half-truth and self-deception. 1966I. Asimov Fantastic Voyage xiii. 151 He knows the ship. He designed it. He can best gimmick its controls. 1970D. Bagley Running Blind ix. 202, I wasn't stupid enough to search Slade's luggage... He would have gimmicked it so that he could tell at a glance whether a suitcase had been opened. 1970Amat. Photographer 11 Mar. 27/2, I don't therefore go along with those who condemn elaboration in cameras and projectors as futile gimmickry. |