Shebang: 一整套;整件事
浏览网页时看到这么一则广告:“The whole shebang. Music, food, location, decoration... planning your wedding can be instantly overwhelming”,因为旁边附有各种有关婚庆的图片,如婚宴、婚纱摄影甚至是蜜月旅行,所以很容易猜得出shebang在这里相当于“packages;the whole thing”,即我们汉语中常说的“一揽子”或“一条龙”服务。
细查shebang的发展历史,发现它的词义演变之快大有“迅雷不及掩耳”之势。 1862年,美国诗人沃尔特·惠特曼在他的日志中首次用到shebang一词,“The soldiers guarding the road came out from their tents or shebangs of bushes”,从整句话词义间的相互关系来看,shebang在这里相当于tents或huts,指“临时搭建的屋棚”。 1869年,马克·吐温开始用shebang代指“整个事件;事态的整个发展过程”;三年后,他又发明了shebang用来指“马车”;到了1901年,人们又用shebang指代“小酒馆;妓院;赌场”。举两个例子: I'm sick of the whole shebang.(我对整个这件事腻歪透了。) You're welcome to ride here as long as you please, but this shebang's chartered.(欢迎您尽情使用这辆马车,不过这一整套用具是要包租的。)
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