weasel

• vi. 逃避；含糊其辭
• n. 鼬鼠；狡猾的人

來自Proto-Germanic*wisulon,臭氣，臭味，來自PIE*weis,臭液，流出，詞源同bison,virus。用於指黃鼠狼。

weasel (n.)

Old English weosule, wesle "weasel," from Proto-Germanic *wisulon (cognates: Old Norse visla, Middle Dutch wesel, Dutch wezel, Old High German wisula, German Wiesel), probably related to Proto-Germanic *wisand- "bison" (see bison), with a base sense of "stinking animal," because both animals have a foul, musky smell (compare Latin vissio "stench"). A John Wesilheued ("John Weaselhead") turns up on the Lincolnshire Assize Rolls for 1384, but the name seems not to have endured, for some reason. Related: Weaselly.

weasel (v.)

"to deprive (a word or phrase) of its meaning," 1900, from weasel (n.); so used because the weasel sucks out the contents of eggs, leaving the shell intact. Both this and weasel-word are first attested in "The Stained-Glass Political Platform," a short story by Stewart Chaplin, first printed in "Century Magazine," June 1900:

"Why, weasel words are words that suck all the life out of the words next to them, just as a weasel sucks an egg and leaves the shell. If you heft the egg afterward it's as light as a feather, and not very filling when you're hungry; but a basketful of them would make quite a show, and would bamboozle the unwary."

They were picked up at once in American political slang. The sense of "extricate oneself (from a difficult place) like a weasel" is first recorded 1925; that of "to evade and equivocate" is from 1956. Related: Weasled; weasling.

1. Fox, badger, weasel and stoat are regularly seen here.

狐狸、獾、黃鼠狼和白鼬在這裏很常見。

來自柯林斯例句

2. A weasel ran off with a chick in its mouth.

黃鼠狼叼走一隻小雞.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

3. The weasel is a very pretty little creature.

黃鼬是一種很可愛的小動物.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

4. Weasel here could be my wife or my sister for all I know.

這位Weasel可能是我的妻子或姐妹,這可說不準.

來自互聯網

5. He might be a bore, but he was as quick-witted as a weasel.

他也許是個很無聊的人，可是卻像黃鼠狼一樣機靈。

來自柯林斯例句