| 释义 |
pleasantry|ˈplɛzəntrɪ|
Also 8–9 plaisanterie.
[a. F. plaisanterie, OF. plesanterie (13th c. in Godef.), f. plaisant pleasant, jocose; see -ry.]
1. a. A pleasant and sprightly humour in conversation; jocularity, fun, facetiousness; good-humoured ridicule, raillery.
1655tr. De Parc's Com. Hist. Francion 23 Ravished with the pleasantry of the severall passages he had heard. 1693Dryden Juvenal Ded. (1697) 60 There can be no Pleasantry where there is no Wit. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 115 Ridicule, or to express the same word by another, pleasantry. 1763C. Johnston Reverie I. 256 Pumping his brain for pleasantry, and labouring for wit to entertain the sneering crowd around him. 1827Carlyle Misc., Richter (1857) I. 14 That light matter which the French call pleasantry. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 328 A species of simony, which furnished an inexhaustible subject of pleasantry to three or four generations of scoffers.
b. With a and pl. A humorous passage, action, or (now, esp.) speech: a joke, a jest.
1701Stanley's Hist. Philos. Biog. 6 Many other Pleasantries of the same Kind are mention'd in their Place. 1711Addison Spect. No. 31 ⁋2 The several Woods in Asia..will give the Audience a Sight of Monkies dancing upon Ropes, with many other Pleasantries of that ludicrous Species. 1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. To Rdr. 3 With their Censorious Plaisanteries upon the greatest of Authors and Worthies. 1809Syd. Smith Serm. I. 235 They..think that a few silly pleasantries, and slender arguments, are a sufficient preparation to decide on these proofs of a future life. 1880McCarthy Hist. Own Times III. xlvii. 431 He seldom indulged in any pleasantries that could wound or offend.
2.
†a. Pleasure, pleasantness, enjoyment. Obs.
1741Richardson Pamela II. 253 To take up the good Company's Attention now, will spoil their Pleasantry. 1780Burke Let. to T. Burgh Wks. 1842 II. 409 Lord North was either wholly out of the house, or engaged in other matters of business or pleasantry, in the remotest recesses of the West Saxon corner.
b. An instance of pleasantness or enjoyment; a pleasurable circumstance.
1790G. Walker Serm. II. xxi. 109 We lose the relish for the thousand pleasantries of life. 1925T. Dreiser Amer. Tragedy (1926) I. i. iii. 17 A nerve plasm palpitation, that spoke loudly for all the seemingly material things of life, not for the thin pleasantries of heaven. 1959Kentucky Folklore Rec. V. 118 The consumption of large quantities of watermelons during the day... With all these pleasantries, it is surprising that the afternoon [church] services are well attended.
Add:[1.] c. A courteous or polite remark, esp. one made in casual conversation. Usu. in pl.
1961L. P. V. Johnson In Time of Thetans vii. 58 There were no pleasantries, no shouted greetings, no friendly waves of recognition. 1987F. Wyndham Other Garden i. 19 His daughter who, beyond a few muttered pleasantries, hardly spoke at all. |