单词 | cockshy |
释义 | cockshyn. 1. a. A game in which objects are thrown at targets such as coconuts, bottles, etc., in an attempt to knock them over or off a stand. Also: a traditional game in which sticks or other objects are thrown at a cockerel or rooster tied to a post; = cock-throwing n. (historical). Also in plural in same sense. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting or baiting animals > cock-throwing > [noun] cock-thrashing1409 throwing at cocks1612 cock-throwing1650 cockshy1815 cockshying1830 1815 European Mag. & London Rev. Jan. 16/2 My attention was caught by a crowd of persons, chiefly sailors, who were playing at a game which in England is vulgarly called cock shy. With us, however, a snuffbox, a slice of ginger-bread, or a pennypiece will suffice; but here, nothing would answer the purpose but a live cock, which was tied to the top of a pole about six feet long, as a mark for those who were dextrous at throwing stones from a given distance, viz. about eight or ten feet. 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 47/2 The shrove-tide cock-shy, or the duck hunt. 1872 Times 1 Mar. 11/6 A nuisance injurious to the Heath and dangerous to the public was occasioned by the game of ‘cockshy’ (throwing sticks at nuts placed upon sticks in baskets of sand). 2005 Jrnl. Brit. Stud. 44 510 His [sc. a 19th-century criminal's] leisure time was spent playing the popular game of ‘cock-shies’, or cock throwing, and frequenting ‘free and easies’. b. A booth, stall, or attraction at a street fair, fairground, etc., where players throw objects at coconuts or other targets in an attempt to knock them over or off a stand. Cf. coconut shy n. at coconut n. Compounds 3. Now somewhat rare. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > place of amusement or entertainment > fairground or amusement park > [noun] > coconut shy, Aunt Sally, etc. Jack-a-Lent1553 knock-'em-down1828 cockshy1833 stick1838 Aunt Sally1858 hoopla1909 1833 Monthly Mag. Dec. 662 These fragments..were flying about in those days as thick and fast as pebbles at a cock-shy. 1879 Daily News 7 Apr. 3/1 The tow-path is lined with people many deep, where the proprietors of ‘cockshies’,..and rifle galleries are driving a lucrative trade. 1975 H. R. F. Keating Remarkable Case Burglary (1976) xv. 175 He felt he must stand out like a figure at a fairground cockshy. 2. a. Something to throw things at; esp. something used as a target for objects thrown as part of a game or for amusement.Apparently with reference to the target used in the games described at sense 1a.In quot. 1819 with depreciative reference to items representing the red flags and banners associated with a march through London led by English radical and universal suffrage campaigner Henry Hunt (1773–1835), to whom the Morning Post newspaper was hostile. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > place of amusement or entertainment > fairground or amusement park > [noun] > coconut shy, Aunt Sally, etc. > target cockshy1819 Aunt Sally1858 1819 Morning Post 14 Sept. Of the ‘cock-shies’, were the exhibition at the Cock, at Holloway, of an old red whittle, made fast to a broom, and also of a red curtain..at the Old Swan, with the words ‘Hunt for ever’ chalked on it. 1822 Morning Chron. 23 July The naked brass man would..continue to interest little boys, as being an excellent cock-shy. 1836 E. Howard Rattlin xxvi What a fine cock-shy he would make! 1938 Times 28 Jan. (Royal ed.) 11/4 A bottle was set up as a ‘cockshy’ and in time was smashed to pieces. 2007 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 7 July 22 He..enjoyed making his guests stand as cockshies while he pelted them with snowballs. b. figurative. A target for criticism, disparagement, ridicule, etc., esp. something regarded as having been set up for this purpose. Cf. Aunt Sally n. 2. ΚΠ 1839 Bell's Weekly Messenger 8 Apr. 108/2 One would almost be inclined to think that the corn-laws were a perpetual ‘cock-shy’—a kind of target against which every state militant..had a right to hurl his lance. 1848 Port Philip Patriot & Morning Advertiser (Melbourne) 27 May Mr. Croke has long since been the ‘legitimate cock-shy’ of the Herald. 2005 Irish Times (Nexis) 15 June 9 He should be allowed to become a cockshy for anybody who wanted to make comments towards him. 3. a. A verbal attack on something, a criticism. Frequently in to take (also have, make) a cockshy at.Probably implying earlier currency of sense 3b, of which this appears to be a figurative use. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > severe > instance of cockshy1822 smasher1828 slasher1849 scarifier1855 slating1870 slate1887 savaging1905 excoriation1924 caning1933 pasting1974 handbagging1987 1822 Brit. Monitor 10 Mar. 8954/1 Hume's Humiliation, or a Shy-cock's Cock-shy at Cockery. 1860 Age (Melbourne) 12 Oct. 5/1 If we did happen to make a man eminent in any manner, it was only to have a cockshy at him, and although he said we had no pillory amongst us, we had what was a very admirable equivalent, viz. an office in the state. 1934 Man Nov. 183/1 Since I am to have cudgels, I propose to take a cockshy with them at Lord Raglan's three points. 2007 Times 3 Oct. 39 We don't publish these arguments for people to take a cockshy at. b. An act of throwing something at a target, esp. as part of a game (cf. sense 1a) or for amusement. Cf. cockshot n. 2. Now rare.Earlier currency of this sense is probably implied by sense 3a; see note at that sense. ΚΠ 1838 Morning Post 26 May 4/5 The sheriff had been called out to read the Riot Act; he had read it, and as a necessary consequence some of the people made a cockshy at him. 1883 Globe 22 Mar. 2/1 The populace took ‘cockshies’ at it..he who broke the vessel and liberated the bird being rewarded with it. 1936 Times 27 Oct. 15/5 Ronnie strolled along the long platform and, seeing a locomotive within convenient range, took a cock-shy at it with a lump of coal. c. figurative. British. A rough estimate; an initial provisional attempt; a try, a go. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > [noun] > an attempt > a first attempt coup d'essai1668 cockshy1891 the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > evaluation, estimation, appraisal > [noun] > approximate estimate1630 cockshy1891 guesstimate1936 guesstimation1937 1891 Live Stock Jrnl. 31 July 112/2 He is content to make a ‘cockshy’ at the amount of beef and mutton which he has to sell. 1954 Financial Times 8 Dec. 1/7 These calculations must be regarded as cock-shies, but..they are near enough to warrant the view that an important increase in dividend is practicable. 1994 Eng. Today Apr. 9/1 The cockshy at a national curriculum for English in the HMI Curriculum Matters papers. 2001 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 1 Oct. 32 For a rough cockshy at the disruption's order of magnitude, recall that air transportation, hotels and personal/business services constitute about 10% of US GDP. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > place of amusement or entertainment > fairground or amusement park > [noun] > coconut shy, Aunt Sally, etc. > missile thrown cockshy1838 1838 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 2nd Ser. iv. 43 The boy..threw his cock-shy at him [sc. an injured hawk] with unerring aim, and killed him. 1907 F. W. Hackwood Old Eng. Sports xvii. 289 (heading) The birds trained to avoid the missile or ‘cock-shy’. Derivatives ˈcockshying n. the action or practice of throwing objects at a target; esp. the action of playing cockshy (in sense 1a); = cock-throwing n. (historical). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting or baiting animals > cock-throwing > [noun] cock-thrashing1409 throwing at cocks1612 cock-throwing1650 cockshy1815 cockshying1830 1830 Morning Chron. 16 Aug. A terrible example for all bad marksmen and injudicious promoters of cock-shying. 1855 Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 10 June 6/4 At Shrovetide in the good old times, prentices flung at live cocks: cockshying was a national institution. 2016 Bournemouth Echo (Nexis) 31 Jan. Among the more dubious customs by which Shrove Tuesday was marked was cock squailing, or cock shying, which involved throwing sticks at a cockerel tied to a post until it died. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1815 |
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