et cetera, et cetera 英文人行道: broody, on the sly, batten down the hatches

2012年9月20日星期四

broody, on the sly, batten down the hatches

The UK government and central bank last night announced plans for a £100bn support programme for the British economy, as they battened down the hatches for a worsening “eurozone debt storm”.
英國政府和央行(BoE)昨晚宣布，計劃針對英國經濟推出一千億英鎊的支持計劃，防患於愈演愈烈的“歐元區債務風暴”。

DWIGHT JELLE and K Hamilton’s retreat in rural Pepin County, Wis., has cedar board-and-batten siding, a wood-burning stove and a stack of firewood piled at the ready.

batten
(băt'n) pronunciation

v., -tened, -ten·ing, -tens.
v.intr.

To become fat.
To thrive and prosper, especially at another's expense: "[She] battens like a leech on the lives of famous people, . . . a professional retailer of falsehoods" (George F. Will).

v.tr.
To fatten; overfeed.

[Ultimately from Old Norse batna, to improve.]

bat·ten² (băt'n) pronunciation

Nautical.
1. One of several flexible strips of wood or plastic placed in pockets at the outer edge of a sail to keep it flat.
2. A narrow strip of wood used to fasten down the edges of the material that covers hatches in foul weather.
Chiefly British. A narrow strip of wood used especially for flooring.

tr.v., -tened, -ten·ing, -tens.
Nautical. To furnish, fasten, or secure with battens: battened down the hatch during the storm.

batten: [動](自)1 食べてよく育つ, 太る.2 （…を）がつがつ［たらふく］食う；（他人の）金で肥え太る, （…を）食いものにする((on, upon ...))（▼受身可） batten on o...
batten: [名][U]1 （板の継ぎ目などをふさぐ）当て木, 目板, 小幅板, 押縁(おしぶち).2 《海事》（帆をぴんと張るための）バッテン, 当て木；（防水布留めの）薄板.━━[動](他)1 …に目板...

idiom:batten down the hatches

To prepare for an imminent disaster or emergency.

[Middle English batent, from Old French bataunt, wooden strip, clapper, from present participle of batre, to beat. See batter¹.]

hatch: [動](他)1 〈ひなを〉卵からかえす；〈卵を〉ふ化する((out)) The duck hatched five ducklings.アヒルが5匹のひなをかえした.2 〈悪事を〉（密かに）謀る...
hatch: [名]1(1) （船の甲板の）ハッチ, 倉口；ハッチカバー.(2) （飛行機の下部の）荷物積み降ろし口.2 （床・天井の）出入り口, 上げぶた.3 （上下に仕切ったドアの）下とびら, くぐり戸....
hatch: [動](他)《製図・彫刻》…にハッチングをする, 線影［けば］をつける.━━[名]（製図・彫版の）線影, けば.

on the sly

Fig. secretly and deceptively. She was stealing little bits of money on the sly. Martin was having an affair with the maid on the sly.

See also: sly

broody
adj., -i·er, -i·est.

1. Meditative; contemplative.
2. Oppressive: "The room's air was broody and sullen, like the season's own, full of storm clouds" (Nicholas Proffitt).
Disposed to sit on eggs to hatch them: a broody hen.

broodiness brood'i·ness n.

broody

(adjective) Deeply or seriously thoughtful.

Synonyms:

contemplative, meditative, musing, pensive, pondering, reflective, ruminative

Usage:

In the past few weeks she has become increasingly broody and sullen.

Dylan uses the lines:

They battened down the hatches
But the hatches wouldn't hold

This has caused a couple of correspondents to write to me asking what 'batten down' means. Many people may know what 'batten down the hatches' means, but some clearly don't, so here goes...

'Hatch' is one of those words with dozens of meanings in the dictionary. In this case we are looking at the 'opening in the deck of a ship' meaning. Ships' hatches, more formally called hatchways, were commonplace on sailing ships and were normally either open or covered with a wooden grating to allow for ventilation of the lower decks. When bad weather was imminent, the hatches were covered with tarpaulin and the covering was edged with wooden strips, known as battens, to prevent it from blowing off. Not surprisingly, sailors called this 'battening down'.

The misspellings 'battern down the hatches' and 'baton down the hatches' are sometimes found in print. 'Batons' are sticks or staffs, which makes that particular misspelling plausible. 'Batterns' are a form of stage lighting.