小词详解 | trumpet

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小词详解 | trumpet
trumpet 英 [ˈtrʌmpɪt] 美 [ˈtrʌmpɪt]

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外刊例句

  • What they are less likely to trumpet is how surprisingly well they are still doing there.
    但它们可能不大会嚷嚷自己在那里的业务仍好得出奇。
    ——《经济学人》
  • The Trump administration will, of course, trumpet the deal as a triumph.
    当然,特朗普政府会把这个协议吹嘘为它的胜利。

基本释义

[noun] proclaim widely or loudly
[名词] 广泛或大声地宣告

深入解读

上个月小站先后介绍了 tramptrump 以及 trample 这三个单词,今天再来聊聊 trumpet 。

Trumpet 一词源自古法语 trompette (小号、喇叭),14世纪末进入英语后也是指“小号、喇叭”。小号又称小喇叭,是一种铜管乐器,常用于古典音乐及爵士乐,是铜管乐器家族中音域最高的乐器之一。要注意区别外观上与之形似的 bugle 指的是军队中用来吹信号的“军号”。

用作名词时, trumpet 除了表示上述含义外,还可以指“(乐队的)小号吹奏者、小号手”,以及引申指“绽开的水仙花”等“喇叭形物”、喇叭声似的“响亮声音”或象等大型动物的“吼声”等,比如:

  • 他起立大声疾呼地宣称:“在性别平等的时代这样的政策是站不住脚的。”
    He stood up blowing a trumpet declaring, "In an era of sexual equality such policies are untenable."
  • 我们高高地站在高原上,可以听见远处大象的吼声。
    High up on the plateau, we could hear the elephants trumpeting in the distance.

而用作动词时,除了自然表示用小号或喇叭“吹出”外,还引申指用喇叭声似的声音“大声说出、大声宣告”,比如:

  • 当地政府一直积极宣扬旅游业是快速发展型产业,却未能成功征得必要的土地。
    The local government has been trumpeting tourism as a growth industry, but it has failed to expropriate the necessary land.
  • 尽管他们的整个婚姻都是在做戏,但他们的联姻却被宣扬成当年的豪门良缘。
    Their marriage was trumpeted as the society wedding of the year, even though their whole marriage had been a charade.

一旦大声宣扬过了头,往往也就成了“吹嘘、鼓吹”这种贬义了,以至于发展出了习语 blow your own trumpet 表示“自吹自擂”,比如:

  • 他们极力吹嘘的“一降再降”活动只包括他们所推销的商品的5%。
    Their much-trumpeted "low low prices" affect only five percent of the goods that they peddle.
  • 他真的不太聪明,总是自我吹嘘并挥霍他父母的财产。
    He really isn't very clever but he is always blowing his own trumpet and squandering his parents' wealth.

名著用例

Many a woman—some of the Highest in the Land— have had a Trouble in their time; and why should you Trumpet yours when others don't Trumpet theirs?
许多女人——有些世界上最高贵的女人——一生中也曾有过不幸;为什么她们就可以不声不响,而你却要宣扬出去呢?

出自英国小说家托马斯·哈代的长篇小说《德伯家的苔丝》(Tess of the d'Urbervilles)。小说最初在杂志上连载,1891年开始以书籍发行,主要讲述英格兰有个贫家少女名叫苔丝,她美丽、单纯且富有责任感,却遭到命运的捉弄。

同近义词

  • blazon: report (news), especially in a sensational manner
  • proclaim: announce officially or publicly
  • promulgate: promote or make widely known (an idea or cause)