| 释义 |
back-chat, n. colloq.
[? orig. soldiers' slang; f. back- A. 12 c + chat n.1]
Impertinent or impudent replies, esp. to a superior; abuse, insulting speech; altercation, heated talk; repartee. Cf. back-answer (back- 12 c) and back-talk.
1901Subaltern's Lett. Wife 108 ‘That'll do, Sergeant Jones’, I heard one of our colonial officers remark; ‘I don't want any more of your back-chat.’ 1922Daily Mail 31 Oct. 9 It was very amusing to hear public men described as ‘cabin boys’ and ‘kitchen staff’; it was what children described as ‘calling names’ and soldiers ‘back-chat’. 1922W. J. Locke Tale of Triona viii. 82 ‘Here you are, you blackmailing thief.’ ‘None of your back-chat..’ said the taximan. 1939T. S. Eliot Old Possum 36 I'd extemporize back-chat, I knew how to gag.
Hence as v. intr., to use back-chat (to).
1927H. V. Morton in Daily Express 27 Apr. 11 No one back-chats to a Pacific [sc. railway engine] except a very shabby tank. 1930A. Bennett Imperial Palace vi. 27 The bright, jostling back-chatting world of men. |
