| 释义 |
ˈpretty-ˈpretty, a. (adv.) and n.
[Reduplicated from pretty a. (Imitating childish talk.)]
A. adj. That overdoes the pretty; in which the aim at prettiness is overdone. Cf. goody-goody. Also as adv.
1877Punch 3 Feb. 47/2 To paint pretty-pretty, to compose namby-pamby, and perpetuate the modish and monstrous. 1897Bookman Jan. 119/1 Save in the over-rated, pretty-pretty ‘Harbour of Refuge’, he is always interesting. 1907Daily Chron. 1 Apr. 4/4 We can't expect men who have to do unpleasant work to be a select gang of pretty-pretty sentimentalists. 1928Galsworthy Swan Song i. xi. 80 Nothing pretty-pretty about that memorial—no angels' wings there! 1937[see arty-and-crafty a.]. 1952L. T. Stanley Woman Golfer 61 A ‘pretty-pretty’ swing may look nice, but it doesn't get you far. 1961[see bitchy a. 1]. 1962‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed xxi. 157 He just might sing pretty-pretty and tell you exactly what's cooking in Moss's fat head. 1973Times 5 Oct. 13/1, I love the baby dresses and suits which are pretty without being pretty-pretty. 1980A. Alpers Life K. Mansfield vi. 114 Some flabby fiction, and some pretty-pretty verse.
B. n. (pl.) Pretty things; ornaments, knick-knacks. Also sing., in absol. use. (Properly nursery prattle.)
1875Trollope Autobiog. (1883) I. ii. 35 My mother..had contrived to keep a certain number of pretty-pretties which were dear to her heart. 1888Bow Bells Weekly 15 June 376/3 This room contains a small fortune in pretty-pretties. 1899[see chance v. 4 c]. 1929W. Deeping Roper's Row xxxv. 401 But that was a monstrous argument to use, mush, the pretty-pretty, a kitten-faced sentimentality. 1934C. Lambert Music Ho! v. 327 Prokofieff's third piano concerto..is curiously lacking in any sense of direction, oscillating disturbingly between the pretty-pretty and the ugly-ugly. |