| 释义 |
▪ I. chattering, vbl. n.|ˈtʃætərɪŋ|
[f. chatter v. + -ing1.]
The action expressed by the verb chatter (in its various senses).
a1250Owl & Night. 560 Bute thu canst of chateringe. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. ii. 84 Chateryng-oute-of-resoun. 1509Barclay Ship of Fooles (1570) 38 The Pye Betrayes her birdes by her chattering and crye. 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 34 Murning & chatering of teith. 1589Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 39 Neuer trouble the church with chattering. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 27 Irreverent chattering of certain Prayers. 1809Med. Jrnl. XXI. 212 Several rigors, and regular chattering of the teeth. 1880Daily News 20 Apr. 2 He had no knowledge of ironwork; but he knew sufficient to lighten the ‘chattering’.
b. attrib.
c1678Roxb. Bal. (1882) IV. 358 He cut her Chattering-string, And he [quickly] set her Tongue on the run.
▪ II. chattering, ppl. a.|ˈtʃætərɪŋ|
[f. chatter v. + -ing2.]
That chatters (in various senses of the verb). chattering plover (U.S.) = killdee, killdeer. Hence ˈcha tteringly adv.
a1225Ancr. R. 152 Sparuwe is a cheaterinde brid. 1509Barclay Ship of Fooles (1570) 39 Take example by the chattering pye. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. ii. 58 To tame a shrew, and charme her chattering tongue. 1781Cowper Convers. 457 Leader of a chattering train. 1731,1796[see killdee, killdeer]. 1754[see plover 2]. 1864Lowell Fireside Trav. 223 To intrude chatteringly upon the midnight privacy of Apollo.
▸ chattering classes n. (occas. also in sing.chattering class) freq. derogatory members of the educated metropolitan middle class, esp. those in academic, artistic, or media circles, considered as a social group freely given to the articulate, self-assured expression of (esp. liberal) opinions about society, culture, and current events.
1980F. Johnson in Now! 21 Mar. 48/1 The peculiar need for something to be frightened about only seems to affect those of us who are part of the *chattering classes. 1990R. Crichfield Among British vii. 457 The old Britain of Eton, Oxbridge, the land, and the Guards, allied with a chattering class of literary intellectuals, so invaluable when it came to running an empire, is deadly when it comes to bringing the country into the 1990s. 1994Daily Mail 18 July 8/2 A battle between Middle England—the sensible heart of the British middle classes—and Islington Person, the politically correct voice of the chattering classes. 2000Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 4 June (Mag.) 6/1 For a day or two, the chattering classes were treated to speculation about government intervention. |