字詞詮 On Language: laired up

2016年8月21日星期日

lair 2

Pronunciation: /lɛː/

Australian /NZ informal

A flashily dressed man who enjoys showing off.

[NO OBJECT]

Dress or behave in a flashy manner:some of us laired up in Assam silk suits

1930s: back-formation from lairy.

lager from mid 19th century: 不知道為何從lair，談到lager？仔細讀下文

The fuller name for lager, no longer much used, is lager beer. It comes from German Lagerbier ‘beer brewed for keeping’, from Lager ‘storehouse’, which shares its root with an animal's lair (Old English), and also with lie (Old English). Since the 1980s we have had the lager lout, the young man who drinks too much and then behaves in an unpleasant or violent way. See also beer

Pronunciation: /ˈlɛəri/

British informal

1Cunning or conceited:you think you know the lot—everything about you is lairy

2Ostentatiously attractive; flashy:there’s some lairy details like the huge boot spoiler and white alloy wheels

3Aggressive or rowdy:a couple of lairy people pushed me around

Mid 19th century (originally Cockney slang): alteration of leery. Sense 2 was originally Australian slang and dates from the early 20th century.

For a century or more lairy has been Australian and New Zealand slang for ‘ostentatious, flashy’. British English has adopted this use, to join an earlier, originally Cockney sense ‘cunning or conceited’, as well as the meaning ‘aggressive, rowdy’. The word is a form of leery (late 17th century), which means ‘cautious or wary’ and is related to leer (mid 16th century) ‘to look at in a lecherous way’, from Old English hleor ‘cheek’.