tawdry的词源
英文词源
- tawdry
- tawdry: [17] Anna, Anglo-Saxon king of East Anglia, had a daughter called Etheldrida, who became queen of Northumbria (she died in 679). She had an inordinate fondness in her youth for fine lace neckerchiefs, and when she was later afflicted by a fatal tumour of the neck, she regarded it as pine retribution for her former extravagance. After her death she was canonized and made patron saint of Ely.
In the Middle Ages fairs were held in her memory, known as ‘St Audrey’s fairs’ (Audry is a conflated version of Etheldrida), at which lace neckties were sold. These were termed Seynt Audries lace, a name eventually eroded to tawdrie lace. They were often made from cheap gaudy material, and so by the end of the 17th century tawdry was being used generally for ‘cheap and gaudy’.
- tawdry (adj.)
- "no longer fresh or elegant but worn as if it were so; in cheap and ostentatious imitation of what is rich or costly," 1670s, adjective use of noun tawdry "silk necktie for women" (1610s), shortened from tawdry lace (1540s), an alteration (with adhesion of the -t- from Saint) of St. Audrey's lace, a necktie or ribbon sold at the annual fair at Ely on Oct. 17 commemorating St. Audrey (queen of Northumbria, died 679). Her association with lace necklaces is that she supposedly died of a throat tumor, which, according to Bede, she considered God's punishment for her youthful stylishness. Related: Tawdriness.
"I know of a surety that I deservedly bear the weight of my trouble on my neck, for I remember that, when I was a young maiden, I bore on it the needless weight of necklaces; and therefore I believe the Divine goodness would have me endure the pain in my neck, that so I may be absolved from the guilt of my needless levity, having now, instead of gold and pearls, the fiery heat of a tumour rising on my neck." [A.M. Sellar translation, 1907]
中文词源
tawdry（俗丽的）：喜爱华丽蕾丝的圣奥黛丽
公元7世纪时，在英国有一位名叫奥黛丽（Audrey）的公主，为了逃婚而隐居在一座名叫Ely的小岛上。公主在小岛上创建了一家修道院并自任院长。公主年轻时讲究打扮，喜欢在颈部系上名贵的蕾丝装饰物。年老时患上咽喉癌，公主便认为这是上帝对自己年轻时爱慕虚荣的惩罚。公主死后被基督教会封为圣徒，并被当地人封为该岛的保护神。在每年的公主纪念日上，岛上都会有热闹的集市。集市上卖的最多的商品就是妇女所用的各种颈部修饰品，如项链、蕾丝等。小贩们高声叫卖：“St. Andrey’s lace”（圣奥黛丽的蕾丝），最后逐渐演变为tawdry lace。由于公主因为臭美而遭到上帝惩罚，并且小贩们所卖的这种小饰品通常廉价而又俗气，因此tawdry lace就被人用来表示“廉价而又俗丽的东西”，有时候缩略为tawdry。
tawdry：['tɔːdrɪ] adj.廉价而又俗丽的，庸俗艳丽的n.俗丽的东西
该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：tawdry 词源，tawdry 含义。
来自 tawdry,女用丝巾，缩写自 tawdry lace,改写自 St.Audrey' lace,来自英国 7 世纪北方王国 Northumbria 皇后 St.Audrey,在其纪念日 Oct.17 每年集会通常会有类似丝巾出售，据说是因 于她喉咙上长有一个肿瘤，因此需佩带丝巾遮盖，她最后也死于该肿瘤。由于戴这种丝巾的 人太多，引申词义俗气的，花里故哨的。
