| 释义 |
down-low, a. and n. slang (orig. in African-American usage).
Brit. |ˈdaʊnləʊ|, U.S. |ˈdaʊnˌloʊ|
[‹ down adv. + low adj. Compare low-down n.]
A. adj. Secret, quiet, low-profile; (in later use) spec. of or relating to men who secretly engage in homosexual activity.
1991Source July 53/3, I was never no outgoing type... So I guess I was on that down low tip. 2002Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 Jan. 76/5 Like other big NY-based jocks, he rarely spins in the city, but when he does, it's a down-low, under-hyped affair. 2004Time Out N.Y. 1 July 148/2 The strangulation of a Bronx prosecutor leads Stabler and Benson to investigate the ‘down low’ world of married African-American men who have gay affairs on the side.
B. n. on the down-low: quiet, low-profile; in secret; (in later use) spec. (of a man) secretly engaging in homosexual activity. Abbreviated DL. Cf. on the quiet at quiet n. Phrases 2, on the (strict) q.t. at n.3
1992Billboard 23 May 22/4 Specifics on this work-in-progress are being kept on the down-low, but word is the De La brothers have once again reinvented themselves. 2000Village Voice (N.Y.) 8 Feb. 48/1 Jackson struck upon the idea of throwing parties that catered to what he saw as a burgeoning group of men who..are ‘attracted to guns and guys who are into the life’, and who are also ‘on the down low and yet wanting to party’. 2000R. Barger et al. Hell's Angel xiii. 233 Webb kept his status as a Hell's Angel on the down-low, since he was entering Outlaws territory. 2003‘Zane’ Nervous xxxv. 247, I realized that it would prove too difficult to pick out..the ones who were married and in there on the downlow. |
