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单词 to write in water
释义

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to write in (also on) water
m. to write in (also on) water: (a) to leave only a transitory record of (something); frequently in passive; (b) (in passive) (of a promise, undertaking, etc.) to be nominal, to fail to be honoured or adhered to. [Compare classical Latin in aquā scrībere (Catullus), ancient Greek εἰς ὕδωρ γράϕειν, ἐν ὕδατι γράϕειν, Hellenistic Greek καθ' ὕδατος γράϕειν, all with reference to pointless activities.]
ΚΠ
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 107v The counsaile I haue alwaies giuen thee, which..I meane no more to write in water.
1620 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster v. 57 All your better deedes shall be in water writ; but this in marble.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. ii. 46 Mens euill manners, liue in Brasse, their Vertues We write in Water . View more context for this quotation
1706 J. Stevens New Spanish Dict. i. at Escrivir To write on the Sand, or Water, is to do things to no purpose, as that Writing is immediatly effac'd.
1783 Parker's Gen. Advertiser 8 Jan. A man..whose promises are written in water, and whose whole life is a libel upon human nature.
1821 J. Keats in Poet. Wks. (1876) p. xxx Here lies one whose name was writ in water.
1831 Athenæum 31 Dec. 847/2 If he will choose a less expanded subject..he may find readers who will remember his words—for the present we fear he has written them on water.
1846 E. B. Barrett Let. 26 Jan. in Lett. R. Browning & E. B. Barrett (1899) I. 433 I may say of Henrietta that her only fault is, her virtues being written in water.
1886 Birmingham Daily Post 25 Jan. 7/3 He thought they might venture to hope that these services would not be written in water only, but would be gratefully remembered.
1916 America 29 Jan. 370/1 Good works they [sc. earlier missionaries] did in abundance, but their names they deliberately wrote in water.
1992 Financial Times 20 Oct. 24/1 A firmly worded commitment has once more proved to be written on water.
extracted from watern.
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更新时间:2024/12/23 3:36:39