| 释义 |
▪ I. queer, a.1|kwɪər|
Forms: 6 queir, queyr, que(e)re, 7 quer, 7– queer.
[Of doubtful origin.
Commonly regarded as a. G. quer (MHG. twer, see thwart), cross, oblique, squint, perverse, wrongheaded; but the date at which the word appears in Sc. is against this, and the prominent sense does not precisely correspond to any of the uses of G. quer. There are few examples prior to 1700.]
1. a. Strange, odd, peculiar, eccentric, in appearance or character. Also, of questionable character, suspicious, dubious. queer fellow, an eccentric person; also used, esp. in Ireland and in nautical contexts, with varying contextual connotations (see quots.) Cf. quare a.
Possibly some examples illustrate queer a.2
1508Dunbar Flyting 218 Heir cumis our awin queir Clerk. 1513Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 43 The cadgear..Calland the colȝear ane knaif and culroun full queyr. 1550Bale Eng. Votaries ii. 21 Y⊇ Chronycles..contayne muche more truthe than their quere legendes. 1598Marston Pygmal. i. 138 Show thy queere substance, worthlesse, most absurd. 1621W. Yonge Diary 27 Aug. (Camden) 43 The emperor is in that quer case, that he is not able to bid battle. 1663Flagellum or O. Cromwell 109 That the world may see what queer hypocrites his attendants were. 1712Steele Spect. No. 474 ⁋2 Let me be known all at once for a queer Fellow, and avoided. 1742Richardson Pamela III. 224, I have heard of many queer Pranks among my Bedfordshire Neighbours. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxix, It was a queer fancy..but he was a queer subject altogether. 1870H. Smart Race for Wife i, In the queer old room with its still queerer attempts at decoration. 1883J. F. T. Keane On Blue Water 212 Remembering that incident, the ‘queer-fellow's’ disappearance didn't alarm me very much. 1910D. W. Bone Brassbounder 64 D'ye think th' queer-fella' is goin' t' pay them prices for 'is kit? 1922[see middle leg s.v. middle a. 6]. 1932J. W. Harris Days of Endeavour 17 No matter what ship you serves your time in, you'll find there'll be a queer-feller. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid vi. 60 He'd a good mind to tear over and spoil her lark with the queer fellow. 1939J. Brophy Queer Fellow 10 When I am ‘making up’ a story,..I am never my normal self, the man that other people know. Nor dare my normal self return for a moment in the hope of catching the other one, The Queer Fellow, as they say in Ireland, at work. 1958M. Procter Man in Ambush xii. 134 Mobsters, queer fellows, bar flies and layabouts. 1961Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1240/2 The queer fella, the person that happens to be in command: Regular Army: late c. 19–20. 1962Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 93/2 Queer fella, any merchant seaman who does not conform to the average type. A nautical eccentric. 1966‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse ii. 87 Whur's ther queer feller? Where is the boss or foreman whose name I don't know?
absol.1826Scott Woodst. (1894) II. 19 His appearance bordered..upon what is vulgarly called the queer.
b. Of a person (usu. a man): homosexual. Also in phr. as queer as a coot (cf. coot n.1 2 b). Hence, of things: pertaining to homosexuals or homosexuality. orig. U.S.
1922Pract. Value of Scientific Study of Juvenile Delinquents (Children's Bureau, U.S. Dept. of Labor) 8 A young man, easily ascertainable to be unusually fine in other characteristics, is probably ‘queer’ in sex tendency. 1931G. Irwin Amer. Tramp & Underworld Slang 153 Queer, crooked; criminal. Also applied to effeminate or degenerate men or boys. 1936J. G. Cozzens Men & Brethren i. 24 ‘He's not queer, or something, is he?’ ‘Lord, no! Worse than that. He's a convert.’ 1937Listener 10 Mar. (Suppl.) p. vii/2 ‘Queer’, in a specifically sexual sense—a word imported from America. 1939C. Isherwood Goodbye to Berlin 296 Men dressed as women?.. Do you mean they're queer? 1952[see camp a. (and n.5)]. 1958P. Mortimer Daddy's gone a-Hunting xxx. 169, I suppose they're queer as coots. 1960[see bent ppl. a. 5 c]. 1963[see gay a. 2 c]. 1974Amer. Speech 1971 XLVI. 81 Female homosexual, lesbian, screwball, queer, lady-lover, minty. 1975Times 9 July 14/2 Bombus fragrans..sprinkles himself..with attar of roses, and..is as queer as a coot. 1976A. White Long Silence i. 10 ‘I say, Peter, you're not turning queer by any chance, are you?’ The thought that I might be queer had haunted me.
c. In U.S. colloq. phr. to be queer for (someone or something): to be fond of or ‘keen on’; to be in love with.
1953W. Burroughs Junkie ii. 28 She began talking about Jack. ‘I'm queer for Jack,’ she said. ‘He works at being a thief just like any job.’ 1956J. Baldwin Giovanni's Room i. ii. 45 Actually, I'm sort of queer for girls myself. 1957M. Shulman Rally round Flag, Boys! iv. 51 When..the cellars were finally snug and dry, Waldo promptly persuaded the homesteaders to fill them with..a huge, gleaming variety of tools. This took no great persuasion, for..the average commuter was queer for tools. 1977Time 28 Mar. 54/2 The sister (Carol Potter) is crazy about him and Francis is queer for her brother (Reed Birney), or so he fears.
2. Not in a normal condition; out of sorts; giddy, faint, or ill: esp. in phr. to feel (or look) queer. Also slang: Drunk.
1781S. Crisp Let. 1 Mar. in W. H. Hutton Burford Papers (1905) 60, I have been very queer for some time, sleepless and indigestion. 1800W. B. Rhodes Bomb. Fur. i (1830) 8 We feel ourselves a little queer. 1826Sporting Mag. XVIII. 285 Galloping..with a rummish team, and himself queer. 1837[see earthquaky a.]. 1848Dickens Dombey i, I am so very queer that I must ask you for a glass of wine and a morsel of that cake. 1885M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird I. i. 39 That business on the railway was enough to make any man feel queer. 1889J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat i. 14 So I set my face against the sea trip. Not, as I explained, upon my own account. I was never queer. But I was afraid for George. 1922,1938[see come v. 70 f]. 1952A. Christie Mrs McGinty's Dead iv. 28 Either the husband's taken queer, or the old mother... With old McGinty, at least it was only she herself who came over queer. 1978‘F. Parrish’ Sting of Honeybee iv. 43 Jake's off queer, wi' a rumblin' stummick.
3. Queer Street: An imaginary street where people in difficulties are supposed to reside; hence, any difficulty, fix, or trouble, bad circumstances, debt, illness, etc. slang.
1811Lex. Balatron., Queer Street, wrong, improper, contrary to one's wish. It is queer street, a cant phrase, to signify that it is wrong or different to our wish. 1821P. Egan Real Life in London I. xi. 186 Limping Billy was also evidently in queer-street. 1829― Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 503 Gas let fly right and left, give Pope a tremendous blow over his left ogle, putting him a little into Queer-street. 1837Lytton E. Maltrav. iv. vii, You are in the wrong box—planted in Queer Street, as we say in London. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. i, Queer Street is full of lodgers just at present. 1886Stevenson Dr. Jekyll i. (ed. 2) 11 The more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask. 1952A. Wilson Hemlock & After iii. i. 208 He enjoys a little flutter..and if he finds himself in Queer Street now and again, I'm sure no one would grudge him his bit of fun. 1963Times 8 May 9/2 He felt that the levy should not be applied so rigidly as to force companies into Queer Street if their costs rose faster than their incomes. 1980J. Wainwright Man of Law xlvii. 222 If Patsold talks, Webb's in queer street.
4. Comb., as queer-looking, queer-shaped, queer-tempered.
1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 171 A little, modest, queer-looking brown girl. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. x, You are the longest-headed, queerest-tempered, old coiner of gold and silver there ever was. 1876H. Sidgwick in A. & E. M. Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (1906) v. 323 Stone hovels that a generation ago were the ordinary houses here: things with a hole in the roof, low, queer-shaped. 1891T. Hardy Tess (1900) 105/1 The queer-shaped flints.
▪ II. queer, a.2 and n.1 Thieves' cant.
Forms: 6 quyer, quyre, 6–7 quire, quyre, 7 queere, 9 queer.
[Of obscure origin: in later use (from c 1700) identified in form with prec., and perh. associated with it in meaning.]
A. adj.
a. Bad; worthless.
The exact sense varies with the n.; for a list of the commonest phrases, as queer bird, buffer, bung, cole, etc. see the Dict. Cant. Crew (a 1700). Cf. also the ns., as cuffin, cull, etc. In quot. 1561 there may be an allusion to quire choir.
1561J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 4 A Quire bird is one that came lately out of prison. 1567Harman Caveat (1869) 84 To cutte quyre whyddes, to geue euell wordes or euell languages. 1609Dekker Lanth. & Candle Lt. C iij b, To the quier cuffing we bing. 1641Brome Jovial Crew iv. ii. Wks. 1873 III. 431 The Quire Cove and the Harmanbeck. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Queere, base, Roguish, naught. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Queer-bail, Persons of no repute, hired to bail a prisoner in any bailable case. [1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. i, Concerning that bill-broking branch of the business... What queer bills are to be bought, and at what prices?]
b. Of coins or banknotes: counterfeit, forged.
1740Ordinary of Newgate, his Account iii. 15/1 Instead of returning the good Guinea again, they used to give a Queer One. 1812, etc. [see screen n. 2]. 1848Ladies' Repository Oct. 316/2 Queer, counterfeit. Queer screen, counterfeit paper money. Queer wedge, counterfeited silver money. Queer ridge, counterfeited gold money. 1877J. Habberton Jericho Road xvi. 151 ‘Let's give him fifty [dollars] to send her.’ ‘Fifty queer?’ asked Mr. Lodge. ‘No, fifty straight,’ said the little man. 1890Buckskin Mose ii. 34 At the same time he pulled out of his pocket a lot of ‘queer’ or counterfeit bills. 1941R. Chandler in Detective Story Mag. Sept. 52 If it was discovered to be queer money, as you say, it would be very difficult to trace the source of it.
B. n.1
a. Bad money; base coin. Also (U.S.), forged paper currency or bonds. Phr. to shove (the) queer: see shove v. 10 a.
1812in J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. 1821P. Egan Life in London ii. i. 154 That admired sort of Life in London, all jostling against each other in the Park... The Duke and the ‘Dealer in Queer’—the Lady and her Scullion [etc.]. 1847National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 9 Jan. 137/1 ‘Bogus’ is base coin, ‘queer’ is counterfeit paper. 1859[see shove v. 10]. 1889G. Gissing Nether World II. xi. 233 ‘Got any queer to put round?’.. ‘You know what he meant, Bob?’ Bob nodded and became reflective. Ibid. III. ii. 38 He opened it, and showed about a dozen pieces of money—in appearance half-crowns and florins... ‘The snyde’ or the ‘queer’ is the technical name by which such products are known. 1898A. M. Binstead Pink 'Un & Pelican xi. 240 He hardly ever uttered the spurious coins himself..and, consequently, seldom had any ‘queer’ about his person. 1926Flynn's 16 Jan. 640/2 After I coughed up an' promised to quit the queer he give me th' gate. 1949E. L. Irey Tax Dodgers v. 112 An alcoholic engraver..turned out the best ‘queer’ that ever competed with the Bureau of Engraving's product and Lustig took over the distribution of the counterfeit money. 1954W. R. & F. K. Simpson Hockshop ix. 232 Eagle-eyed concessionaires..always on the lookout for shovers of the queer. 1981‘E. Lathen’ Going for Gold iii. 37 Nobody's laying off any queer on the Sloan [Bank].
b. on the queer: living dishonestly; spec. engaged in the forging of currency.
1905C. H. Day Actress & Clerk ii. 22 Only just feeling of you to see if you was on the queer. 1909R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins 277 Dick may have been on the queer all right, but he was smooth enough to hide it. 1910C. E. B. Russell Young Gaol-birds x. 150 Convinced that he could get along as well ‘on the queer’, i.e., by thieving, as he could by keeping straight. 1935Amer. Speech X. 11/1 Boys who are on the queer are handsomely equipped to print anything from twenty dollar bills to fake government bonds. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §494/2 Counterfeit; forge,..be on the green goods,—the queer or the spud(s).
▪ III. queer, n.2 slang.|kwɪə(r)|
[f. queer a.1 1 b.]
A (usu. male) homosexual. Also in Comb., as queer-bashing vbl. n., the attacking of homosexuals; hence queer-basher.
[1932Auden in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1978) Aug. 294 An underground cottage frequented by the queer.] 1935Amer. Speech X. 19/2 Queer... A male homosexual. 1936L. Duncan Over Wall xx. 277 There was even a little room..where the ‘fairies’, ‘pansies’, and ‘queers’ conducted their lewd practices. 1946E. Waugh Jrnl. 21 Nov. (1976) vi. 663 The headmaster, an old queer. 1952A. Wilson Hemlock & After i. iii. 58, I quite like queers if it comes to that, so long as they're not on the make. 1959Anon. Streetwalker i. i. 18 Jackie, one of the commercial queers..is a tall, gangling boy with long hair..combed into carefully casual curls. 1965Spectator 19 Feb. 239/1 Smith pursues Lulu in Valletta only to discover that she is a queer. 1966[see faggot, fagot n. 6 b]. 1970Times 5 Feb. 2/3 Four of 12 youths said to have taken part in a ‘queer bashing’ expedition on Wimbledon Common on September 25 were found Guilty of murder. Ibid. 25 Nov. 9/5 (heading) ‘Queer-bashers’ lose appeal. 1975[see pansy 3 a]. 1977New Wave Mag. No. 7. 6 To fight the National Front, the queer-bashers and any other diseases.
Hence ˈqueerdom.
1965New Statesman 9 July 58/1 Its climactic evocation of high Hapsburg queerdom at its annual drag ball. 1977Daily Express 29 Jan. 7/2 This is a groin-directed compound of mime, ballet and freak show which, as a mere heterosexual, I take to be a celebration of the erotic imagery of queerdom.
▪ IV. queer, v. slang.|kwɪə(r)|
[f. queer a.1 or a.2]
1. trans.
a. To quiz or ridicule; to puzzle.
b. To impose on, swindle, cheat.
1790By-Stander 343 Young rascals, who are telling you..how archly they queer attornies. 1797M. Robinson Walsingham II. 299 ‘You're found out, that's all’, replied the turnkey,..‘there's no queering the law’. 1812Colman Br. Grins, Two Parsons lxviii, A shoulder-knotted puppy, with a grin, Queering the threadbare curate, let him in. 1819Borrow Wand. Children in W. J. Knapp Life I. 64 Well, we have tramped the roads, and queered Full many a sharp and flat. 1854W. Harcourt Let. in A. G. Gardiner Life W. Harcourt (1923) I. iv. 76 The American Minister..spat on the floor all dinner-time. I hear he does this to queer the Britishers, and does not practise those manners at home.
2. a. To spoil, put out of order. Also, with a person as object: to spoil the reputation of, to put (a person) in bad odour (with someone); to spoil (a person's) undertaking, chances, etc.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. 1818Sporting Mag. II. 189 His ogles were queered..and his head was dunned. 1884G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 190 All they [the chorus] dared do they did to ‘queer’ her Scene. 1895J. L. Ford Bohemia Invaded 91 Without having you come in and queer me right in the middle of it [sc. a story]. 1895E. W. Townsend Chimmie Fadden 38 De Duchess gives me de orders, an' I wasn't goin' to queer meself wid 'er any more. 1904N.Y. Tribune 12 Jan. 2/1 Van Wyck will queer the whole thing. His appearance before the National Committee will recall..things that knocked Tammany out in 1901. 1913Dialect Notes IV. 11 Queer, v. To spoil the reputation (or good impression) a person has made or is trying to make. ‘That queered me with the teacher.’ 1919E. O'Neill Moon of Caribbees 17 Bella... Don't talk so loud... Think I wants the ole captain to put me off the ship, do you? Yank. Yes, nix on hollerin', you! D'yuh wanta queer all of us? 1927[see horn v. 3 c]. 1941Sun (Baltimore) 25 Aug. 10/1 (heading) Queering the oil conservation drive.
b. to queer the pitch: to interfere with or spoil the business (of a tradesman or showman) (cf. pitch n.2 11 a); now freq. to queer one's pitch (in more general use). Hence in similar phrases, as to queer the game, queer the job, etc.
1846Swell's Night Guide 47 Rule iv... Nanty coming it on a pall, or wid cracking to queer a pitch. 1866M. Mackintosh Stage Reminisc. vii. 93 The smoke and fumes of ‘blue fire’ which had been used to illuminate the fight came up through the chinks of the stage, fit to choke a dozen Macbeths, and—pardon the little bit of professional slang—poor Jamie's ‘pitch’ was ‘queered’ with a vengeance. 1875T. Frost Circus Life xvi. 278 The spot they select for their performance is their ‘pitch’, and any interruption of their feats, such as an accident, or the interference of a policeman, is said to ‘queer the pitch’. 1889E. Sampson Tales of Fancy 38 They could not understand it when their pitch was queered, and one or two of the gang arrested. 1890Punch 16 Aug. 74/3 Wy, they'd queer the best pitches in life, if they kiboshed the Power of the Quid! 1901Windsor Mag. Dec. 204/1, I think you and I between us have queered the game. 1911L. Merrick Position of Peggy Harper iii. i. 287 ‘You leave the contract to me...’ ‘I can do all that's wanted... You'd go asking too much and queering the job for me.’ 1919H. Jenkins John Dene of Toronto (1920) i. 17 ‘Suppose the Germans were able to sink a ship without even showing their periscopes?’.. ‘Oh, shucks!’ cried John Dene in disgust. It would queer the whole outfit... It would mighty soon finish the war.’ 1927Observer 4 Dec. 19/4 It may conceivably queer the pitch of Mr. de Valera, who..is about to approach the American public for a substantial sum. 1934J. E. Neale Queen Eliz. I xix. 334 Elizabeth..tried to break off... He went on, determined to queer the pitch for Coke and his supporter Burghley. 1973E. Lemarchand Let or Hindrance iv. 31 He's a decent lad... He would never have risked queering Wendy's pitch with Eddy. 1977Rolling Stone 5 May 50/1 Since trying to crash a closed Stones party the first night would likely queer the whole deal, I decided to check out El Mocambo with a local reporter.
3. To put (one) out; to make (one) feel queer.
1845W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 34 Hallam was rather queered (it not being in his line to do anything so conspicuous). 1894Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 362/2 It queered me to think what would happen if they were to lose foothold.
Hence ˈqueerer, one who queers.
1812Colman Br. Grins, Two Parsons lxxxv, These wooden wits, these quizzers, queerers, smokers.
▪ V. queer
obs. form of quere quære, quire.
▪ VI. queer(e
obs. forms of choir n. |