释义 |
Bertha2|ˈbɜːθə| [Named after Frau Bertha Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, owner of the Krupp steel works in Germany from 1903 to 1943.] Soldiers' name for a German gun or mortar of large bore, used in the war of 1914–18; freq. Big Bertha.
1914Scotsman 30 Oct. 9/6 This mortar of 42 centimeters was made at the Krupp works, and for this reason the Germans have baptised it ‘Bertha— die fleissige’ (Bertha, the Zealous), Bertha being the name of Madame Krupp von Bohlen. Ibid., ‘Bertha’ is not the delicate plaything that it has sometimes been represented to be, and the maximum of 150 shells that they say can be fired from the gun is below the truth. 1918Sphere 20 July 48/2 Big Bertha spoke for the first time on March 23, and at the sound of her voice Paris was intensely surprised. 1958Hayward & Harari tr. Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago i. iv. 111 That's a Bertha, a German sixteen-inch. |