| 释义 |
Limey colloq. and derogatory.|ˈlaɪmɪ|
Also limey.
[abbrev. lime-juicer.]
a. In the former British colonies (esp. Austral., N.Z., and S. Afr.), an English immigrant. Also attrib.
The later examples prob. reflect the U.S. use in b.
1888D. Sladen Austral. Ballads & Rhymes 31 They'd seen old stagers and limey new chums. 1947J. Bertram Shadow of War 251, I can remember scores of fights among the ‘Limeys’. 1954T. S. Eliot Elder Statesman iii. 93 Everyone would sneer at the fellow from London, The limey remittance man for whom a job was made. 1962Times 6 Jan. 7/1 The [English] boys [at Sasolburg, Orange Free State] were constantly taunted by school⁓mates as ‘Pommie’, ‘Limey’, and ‘Rooinek’. 1964O. E. Middleton in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 198 We'd all be drawing the dole like every other mother-loving beachcomber in this..Limey hole!
b. U.S. An English ship; an English (or British) sailor; hence gen., an Englishman, a Briton. Also attrib.
1918A. N. Depew Gunner Depew 18 So, all over the world, British ships are called ‘Lime-juicers’ and their sailors ‘Limeys’. Ibid. 48 Ask any Limey soldier and he will tell you the same. 1918R. D. Paine Fighting Fleets v. 87 Squads of the American navy patrol began to stroll about..displaying no sympathy..for the shipmate who..loudly announced that he could whip any three ‘Limies’ that ever trod a British deck. 1919Texas Rev. IV. 86 In our fleet a British ship is regularly called a ‘limey’, from the old lime-juicers. The British seaman is likewise a ‘limey’. 1924Chicago Tribune 18 Oct. 1/5 (heading) Midway Signs Limey Prof. to Dope Yank Talk. 1930J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel ii. 169, I..shipped out East on a limey, on an English boat. 1931E. Linklater Juan in Amer. ii. vii. 115 ‘An Englishman,’ he marvelled, ‘the first limey I ever saw shot in Chicago.’ 1933‘J. Spenser’ Limey i. 4 ‘English, eh?’ said the manager. ‘I ain't too keen on you Limey's.’ 1952J. Steinbeck East of Eden lii. 498 Fights in the bar-rooms with the goddam Limeys. 1954M. Bruce Tramp Royal ii. ix. 121 This ship differed from a Limey vessel in the way the watch bells are struck. 1955G. Greene Quiet American iv. ii. 241, I don't like Limies. 1968M. Pyke Food & Society iii. 32 The pejorative identification of foreigners with unfamiliar foods. This makes..the English limies. 1969Listener 26 June 881/3 Was it my limey accent that called it forth or did they say it to every customer? 1973‘D. Jordan’ Nile Green xi. 49 Guy always plays up the limey accent when he's in the States. |