2014年7月24日 星期四

rallying, hey rube, shorten, shortener



Man’s Dying Words in Custody Become Rallying Cry

Mourners of Eric Garner, who died on Staten Island after an officer apparently put him in a chokehold, said there were systemic problems between residents and the police.






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hey rube (hay roob)

noun:
1. A fight between members of a circus and the general public.
2. A call to rally circus members in a fight.

Etymology
The term originated in the 19th century when circuses were rowdy affairs and "Hey Rube" was the rallying cry to call all circus people to help in a fight with townspeople. It's not clear whether Rube in this term was someone specific or simply a use of the informal term rube (shortened form of Reuben) for an unsophisticated person from a rural area. Earliest documented use: 1882.

Usage
"I said 'Shut it, Camel! I'm dealing with a situation here.' Walter says. 'What kind of situation?' says Camel. 'Jacob 's messed up.' 'What? How? Was there a hey rube?" — Sara Gruen; Water for Elephants; Algonquin Books; 2006. http://amazon.com/o/asin/1565124995/ws00-20 "'Hey, Rube,' they would yell. Roustabouts would soon be beating on the trouble-maker." — Bill Conlin; Phillies GM Amaro is Master of the Shell Game; The Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Dec 17, 2009.




Definition of shorten

verb

  • 1make or become shorter: [with object]:he shortened his stride patients whose waiting time had been shortened [no object]:as skirts shortened, so heels rose around mid September, days shorten and temperatures dip
  • (with reference to gambling odds) make or become shorter; decrease: [with object]:Ladbrokes shortened Nashwan’s odds from 2-1 to 7-4 [no object]:the odds had shortened to 14-1
  • [with object] Prosody & Phonetics make (a vowel or syllable) short: the preceding vowels are shortened
2 [with object] Sailing reduce the amount of (sail spread): before sail could be shortened she went on to her beam ends


rallying

Line breaks: rally|ing
Pronunciation: /ˈraliɪŋ 
  
/

NOUN

[MASS NOUN]
1The action or process of coming together to support a person or cause:the rallying of ethnic minorities to form a new opposition party
2The sport or action of participating in a motor rally:established names in international rallying

ADJECTIVE

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Having the effect of calling people to action:a rallying cry


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