| 释义 |
▪ I. wangle, v.1 dial.|ˈwæŋg(ə)l|
[Perh. an altered form of waggle v., due to the influence of the dial. wankle to totter (app. rare) or of its source wankle a. (OE. wancol) unsteady, tottering. Cf. Norw. vangla to roam about, (of weather) to be unsteady.]
intr. Of a thing: To move loosely or shakily on its base or in its place of attachment. Of a person: To go unsteadily.
1820Wilbraham Chesh. Gloss., Wangle, to totter or vibrate. See Junius in voce, wanckle. 1841Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss., Wangle, to be unsteady, totter. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Wangle, to totter, or shake to its fall; of a wall, building, &c. 1869Lonsdale Gloss., Wangle, to totter, to walk feebly. 1876Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Wangle, to rock, or shake, noisily. 1892M. C. F. Morris Yorksh. Folk-Talk Gloss., Wangle, to shake, to totter, to waver; to be in a sensitive state... Ex.—Thoo mun put it varry wangling (in setting a trap).
Hence ˈwangling ppl. a. (in quot. app. ‘rambling’). Also ˈwangler.
1869G. J. Chester Transatl. Sk. 325 The old gentleman in the pulpit meanwhile drawling out a long, wangling, extempore prayer. 1876Whitby Gloss., Wangler, an unstable person.
▪ II. wangle, v.2 slang and colloq.|ˈwæŋg(ə)l|
[Of uncertain origin.
First recorded, as printers' slang, in 1888; current among soldiers in the war of 1914–1918, and hence in general colloquial use. There is no evidence of any connexion with the northerly dialect word wangle v.1 Probably, like many other slang words, it was formed involuntarily, under the influence of an obscure sense of phonetic symbolism; the suggestion may have come from waggle v.]
1. trans. To accomplish (something) in an irregular way by scheming or contrivance; to bring about or obtain by indirect or insidious means (something not obtainable openly); to manipulate, ‘fake’ (an account, report, prices). Also refl. and const. advb. phr.
1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Wangle, a slang term used by printers to express arranging or ‘faking’ matters to one's own satisfaction or convenience. 1917Edin. Rev. July 45 No market is ever ‘free’: probe it deep enough, and..monopolies will..be found, in many cases deliberately ‘wangling’ prices and limiting production to sustain them. 1917Bulletin 28 Dec. 3/2 He had come in from the North Atlantic Cruiser Patrol, and when in home waters had ‘wangled’ a few days' leave. 1918‘B. Cable’ Air Men o' War xi. 143 He had been..planning..how to apply and how to get quickly through his training, and ways of wangling it to get to this Squadron. 1922Sat. Rev. 22 Dec. 953 President Wilson had to ‘wangle’ through Congress an act to restore the British treaty rights. 1942‘Wyndham Lewis’ Let. ? 26 June (1963) 324 In the last war like yourself I joined the army, instead of wangling myself into some safe job in London. 1961C. V. Wedgwood Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford 186 In fact, he would bribe and wangle himself back into the possession of his illicit gains.
2. intr. To obtain something or get somewhere by irregular means, scheming, etc.; to use irregular means to accomplish a purpose. rare.
1918Sat. Even. Post 19 Oct. 93/1 And wet—always, always wet, unless the weather is clear and the sea is calm—but good sea boats. They [sc. submarine chasers] wangle through somehow. They weather it out. 1919W. Deeping Second Youth xxii. 190 He agitated for a transfer..and to his joy he wangled back to the Cockneys. Ibid. xxvi. 222 He also knew that a man who has ‘wangled’..may find himself..thrust rudely into the trenches. 1921Glasgow Herald 16 June 9 We wangled in, an' we'll wangle oot.
3. trans. To influence or induce (a person) to do something. rare.
1926G. D. H. & M. Cole Blatchington Tangle xxi. 147 He was always on at me just lately to get Lady Blatchington to sell him the rubies. He said I could wangle her. 1928Daily Express 27 Dec. 5/4 Aren't you glad..you wangled the old lady to relinquish the key.
Hence ˈwangler, one who ‘wangles’. ˈwangling vbl. n.
1911Standard 12 July 10 He denied that he had ever been asked by a driver to ‘fake’ a meter although he had heard banter in the garage about the ‘wangling’ of meters. 1912E. Wallace Private Selby xxxi. 281 You're a bloomin' wangler, Short. 1915John Bull 27 Mar. 16/2 We regret to see them reduced to the level of vulgar weight wanglers, and so far as the bread business is concerned, we are quite prepared to believe that it was all the fault of a..machine. 1920Blackw. Mag. June 790/1 We took it in turns to stay in the garden against the return of the motor wanglers.
▪ III. wangle, n. colloq.|ˈwæŋg(ə)l|
[f. wangle v.2]
An act of wangling; an irregular or indirect method of working; something dishonestly contrived or manipulated.
1915N. & Q. 23 Jan. 66 The explanation given was: ‘It's a wangle between this Office and the Inland Revenue.’ 1923Westm. Gaz. 21 Feb. 11/1 Mr. Justice Sargant: You can't expect the Royal Commission to be bound to what might be called a ‘wangle’ of this sort. 1927Observer 27 Mar. 16/5 Men who sought to achieve nothing by wangle or intrigue. 1943H. A. Smith Life in Putty Knife Factory xii. 183 They [sc. people of New York City] have made a precise science out of the wangle. 1959E. Pound Thrones xcvii. 29 But by that time they found some other wangle. 1977P. Dickinson Walking Dead ii. ii. 114, I worked a wangle. I got a line on the Minister of Tourism. |