释义 |
‖ mauvais quart d'heure|mɔvɛ kar dœr| [Fr., lit. ‘bad quarter of an hour’.] A short period of time which is embarrassing and unnerving; a brief but unpleasant experience.
1864M. B. Chesnut Diary 8 Jan. (1949) 353 General Preston rushed in to the breach... But Mr. Willie Mountford had his mauvais quart d'heure. 1871M. Arnold Friendship's Garland 95 You must needs have..a mauvais quart d'heure. 1883Ld. Saltown Scraps II. iii. 77 My modesty was severely tried, and I do not remember to have often spent a more mauvais quart d'heure, which was actually about the length of time that my martyrdom endured. 1897J. McCabe Twelve Yrs. in Monastery iv. 64 We gave him many a mauvais quart d'heure by running to the door when we saw his shadow near it, and chasing him through the convent. 1905E. M. Forster Where Angels fear to Tread ii. 47 He takes it so well. But you must have had a mauvais quart d'heure. 1920Punch 18 Feb. 138/3 Last week's programme had its beaux moments, but it had also at least two mauvais quarts d'heure. 1924P. C. Wren Beau Geste i. i. 25 At the end of ten minutes, a very mauvais quart d'heure, I beckoned the Sergeant-Major. 1960Guardian 21 Sept. 8/6 The long-term effects of a transitory mauvais quart d'heure. 1965Economist 5 June 1125 John Kennedy had his mauvais quart d'heure between April and June, 1961. |