2013年5月30日 星期四

flibbertigibbet, ostensibly, scatterbrained, mad as a hatter


 Someone as “mad as a hatter” exhibits behavior similar to 18th and 19th century hat makers who stiffened felt cloth with mercury—an ingredient that after continued exposure causes dementia.


She enjoyed her new life of luxury while it lasted, but she was no flibbertigibbet.
She took a flat, ostensibly for a lover, in fact for the resistance, sheltered men on the run and became a crucial part of the southern escape line to Spain, travelling all over southern France from Nice to Nîmes to Perpignan, with clothing, money and false documents.

flibbertigibbet
  • [flíbərtidʒìbit]
(FLIB-uhr-tee-jib-it) pronunciation

noun
Someone who is regarded as flighty, scatterbrained, and talkative.

Etymology
Apparently from the imitation of the sound of idle chatter
Usage
"But [Lesley Dormen] is hardly a flibbertigibbet. 'I am the opposite of flighty,' she said." — Celia Barbour; An Author Discovers; The New York Times; Apr 8, 2007.


[名]
1 ((英))軽薄な[おしゃべりな]人[女性];浮気女.
2 ((古))うわさ話.

Definition of scatterbrained

adjective

(of a person) disorganized and lacking in concentration: a scatterbrained blonde

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