| 释义 |
Babylon, n.|ˈbæbɪlən|
[a. L. Babylōn, Gr. βαβυλών, Heb. Bābel.]
A magnificent city, once the capital of the Chaldee Empire; also, the mystical Babylon of the Apocalypse; whence, in modern times, applied polemically to Rome or the papal power, and rhetorically to any great and luxurious city.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 8 Bethleem and Babiloyne, I haue ben in boþe. 1634Rainbow Labour (1635) 41 Thy great Babilons which thou hast built. 1823Byron Juan xi. xxiii, The approach..to mighty Babylon [= London].
Add:2. Black (chiefly Jamaican) English. A contemptuous or dismissive term for anything which to the Black (esp. Rastafarian) consciousness represents the degenerate or oppressive state of white culture; spec. the police, a policeman; (white) society or the Establishment.
1943in Cassidy & Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1967) 17/1 Babylan, police. 1952in Ibid. 17/1 /bábilàn/ district constable, policeman. 1955in Ibid. 17/1 Babylon, white man. 1960M. G. Smith et al. Ras Tafari Movement in Kingston, Jamaica 52 Since the Jamaican police are mainly black Ethiopians working for Babylon, their persecution of the brethren constitutes a ‘tribal war’ instigated by the white and brown oppressors. 1977Observer 21 Aug. 11/1 ‘Babylon!’—a West Indian nickname for the police—yells a voice, and the blacks dart outwards..as a police squad..moves to the stranded Panda car. 1978Ibid. 4 June 3/5 The police are simply the sharp and visible end of ‘Babylon’: white society and all its frustrations. ‘There is nothing going on that is right,’ said Derrick. ‘Babylon don't really have nothing to offer I.’ 1980Daily Mirror 9 Apr. 16/4 Roots Boys—members of a West Indian youth cult. Their heady Caribbean-style street talk includes..insulting names for the police, from ‘Babylon’ to ‘The Wicked’. 1986G. Slovo Death by Analysis v. 70 My father him a work as labourer for thirty years in Babylon. |