tawdry

• adj. 非常華麗的；廉價而俗麗的
• n. 俗麗的東西；廉價而俗麗之物

來自 tawdry,女用絲巾，縮寫自 tawdry lace,改寫自 St.Audrey' lace,來自英國 7 世紀北方王國 Northumbria 皇後 St.Audrey,在其紀念日 Oct.17 每年集會通常會有類似絲巾出售，據說是因 於她喉嚨上長有一個腫瘤，因此需佩帶絲巾遮蓋，她最後也死於該腫瘤。由於戴這種絲巾的 人太多，引申詞義俗氣的，花裏故哨的。

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 divine 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]

1. Do you attend operas , or do you read tawdry novels ?

你會參觀歌劇表演，還是閱讀通俗小說？

來自辭典例句

2. The main street has assumed its tawdry prosperity with discomfort.

繁華的大街透著一股不安的氣氛.

來自辭典例句

3. She slopped about her room, unkempt and dishevelled, in her tawdry dressing - gown.

她不修邊幅,滿頭蓬發,穿著俗裏俗氣的睡衣邋邋遢遢在屋裏走來走去.

來自辭典例句

4. She saw herself as shallow, tawdry.

她看到自己隻是個穿得花花綠綠的淺薄庸俗的女人.

來自辭典例句

5. Everything seemed strange, so tawdry and grotesque.

一切似乎都很新奇, 很花哨,而且滑稽可笑.

來自辭典例句