| 释义 |
wallah Anglo-Indian.|ˈwɒlə|
Also wal(l)a, wollah.
[a. Hindī -wālā, a suffix, forming adjs. with the sense ‘pertaining to or connected with’ what is denoted by the n.; hence forming ns., as in nāo-wālā boatman, Dillī-wālā inhabitant of Delhi. The suffix in this function may be compared to -er1; Europeans have commonly apprehended it as a n. equivalent to ‘man’, ‘fellow’.]
a. In certain Hindī or Hindustānī words adopted in Anglo-Indian use or cited in popular Anglo-Indian spelling, as Agra wallah, native of Agra, banghy-wallah, a porter who carries loads with a banghy or shoulder-yoke, howdah-wallah, an elephant accustomed to carry a howdah, jungle-wallah, man of the jungle. See also lootie-wallah, punkah-wallah, topi-wallah.
Mrs. Sherwood's purdah-walla (see purdah 3), applied to a woman, is a misuse.
1776Trial Nundocomar 25/1 They were both Agra Walla's..by Agra, I mean the place he came from. 1810T. Williamson E. India Vade-M. I. 325 The bangy-wollah, that is, the bearer who carries the bangy. 1826Galt Last of Lairds xvi. 146 The murderous old decoit and his Junglewallah of a servant. 1863Trevelyan Compet. Wallah v. (1864) 113 My suite comprised sixteen bearers,..and four banghy wallahs. Ibid. vi. 176 Strange stories these old howdah-wallahs could tell us, if they had the gift of speech!
b. Used as n. with Eng. word prefixed attrib., in imitation of native derivatives with the suffix, as in box-wallah (box n.2 24), competition wallah (competition 3). Now extended beyond Anglo-Indian contexts.
1785in Seton-Karr Sel. Calcutta Gaz. (1864) I. 93 A band of good Patriot-wallahs. 1834[A. Prinsep] Baboo II. iii. 55 (Stanf.) These chits of 90, 50, and 200 rupees to box-walas from Mrs. Title. 1853W. D. Arnold Oakfield I. 66 ‘Were you ever in the Lakes?’ ‘No, I'm a Suffolk walla.’ 1894M. Dyan Man's Keeping (1899) 195 ‘The Inseparables’..came in to superintend his toilet, accompanied by a ready⁓made clothes wallah and a barber. 1917Blackw. Mag. Sept. 299/1 Now, those fellows..those big-ship wallahs—they're only just beginning to take Us seriously. 1940E. Pound Cantos lx. 90 The European church wallahs wonder if this can be reconciled. 1955Times 15 June 3/5 Thousands of the lorries were being worked for 12, 14, 16, and 18 hours a night, with tragic results. The term used on the roads to describe these drivers was ‘night-and-day wallahs’. 1977J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe xvii. 248 It's marvellous what these ambulance wallas can do at a pinch. 1982B. Trapido Brother of more Famous Jack xxxvi. 124, I thought briefly of Roger who, being a music wallah, had always made a thing of St. Cecilia's Day.
c. Short for competition-wallah.
1863Trevelyan Compet. Wallah i. (1864) 9 Stories against the Competition Wallahs,..are told... For instance: Story showing the Pride of Wallahs.—A Wallah being invited to dinner by a Member of Council, went out before the whole company. 1872‘Aliph Cheem’ (Yeldham) Lays of Ind (1876) 142 Each unemployed wallah so surely applies To be kindly allowed in that Station to stay, Doing his nothing, and drawing his pay. 1911Sir W. F. Butler Autob. iii. 45 M. sleeps. Enter the wallahs and servants.
d. One carrying out a routine administrative job; a civil servant, a bureaucrat. colloq.
1965A. Nicol Truly Married Woman 32 There's no end to what you wallahs in the administration would do to show your damned official broadmindedness. 1974Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 7 June 7/3 Some wallahs in Canberra are sitting in air-conditioned offices telling us what has been flooded and what hasn't. |