| 释义 |
Asian, a. and n.|ˈeɪʃ(ɪ)ən|
[ad. L. Asiānus, a. Gr. ἀσιᾱνός, f. ἀσία.]
1. = Asiatic.
a. arch.
a1563Bale Sel. Wks. (1849) 293 Laodicea, a notable city of the Asians. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 75 African Camels are much more worth then the Asian. 1684tr. Corn. Nepos 159 The Asians were much stronger in horse. 1864Neale Seaton. Poems 76 To upraise Their Asian flag on Europe's western shores.
b. In recent official use superseding Asiatic because of the alleged depreciatory implication of the latter term.
1930Kenya Legislative Council Debates 4 Apr. 69 The first thing I notice about the motion is the word ‘Asian’. I have tried to look it up, but I can find no dictionary which gives it—it is usually ‘Asiatic’. 1930Official Gaz. (Kenya) 9 Dec. 2825 (heading) Asian Clerical Staff Confirmation Examination. 1953Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Feb., Asian Review. Volume XLIX, Number 177. January, 1953... After 68 years of existence the widely circulated quarterly hitherto known as the Asiatic Review makes a slight but important change of designation. The reason is to be found in the sensitiveness of the cultured classes of Asia about nomenclature... The term ‘Asiatic’ has come to be regarded with disfavour by those to whom it applied, and they feel entitled to be brought into line with usage in regard to Europeans, Americans and Australians. 1953Encounter Oct. 74/1 Through European schools on Asian soil, and by study in Europe and America, young Asians entered the cultural world of the 20th century.
2. Asian 'flu, the popular name of a kind of influenza caused by a virus first identified in Hong Kong in 1957. Also Asian influenza.
1957Economist 31 Aug. 670/2 The type of virus officially called A/Singapore/1/57, and popularly known as..Asian flu. 1958Punch 1 Jan. 68/3 Three days later..all of us, including the cat, were struck down with Asian flu. 1958Listener 19 June 1000/2 When Asian influenza strikes the population, we no longer appeal on our knees for help.
▸ Asian contagion n. = Asian flu n. at Additions.
1997Edge (Malaysia) Newswire (Nexis) 2 Feb. The risks of *Asian contagion continue to make headlines. 1999Time 15 Feb. 38/1 The stutter was enough to panic a few investors, who headed for the exits. That set off a rapid spiral of defaults that became known as the Asian Contagion. 2002Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 13 Dec. 74 Look for another bout of Asian contagion. Travelling in Asia recently, I have been struck by an almost eerie atmosphere in many Asian economies and in their markets.
▸ Asian flu n. fig. a weakening of Far Eastern economies, spec. the economic crisis beginning in late 1997 which adversely affected the East Asian ‘tiger’ economies (and, in 1998, the Japanese economy); (hence) the resultant global economic insecurity; (in quot. 1990 as part of an extended metaphor).
1990Business Week 12 Feb. 84/3 Whether Japan's kushami [= sneeze] will give the U.S. an extended case of *Asian Flu will not be known for months. 1997Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 1 Oct. 24 If Wall Street gets seriously upset by the eastern turmoil, the US economy could be affected and we could all get Asian flu. 2000J. G. Fernald & O. D. Babson in B. Chen et al. Financial Market Reform in China 78 Hence, it remains possible that China has deferred, not avoided, the ‘Asian flu’. |