英和和英

語源

Possibly baby talk forms of Humphrey, since Dump and Dumphrey have been recorded as pet forms of this given name. Various suggestions have been offered for the original meaning of the nursery rhyme, chiefly concerning the English Civil War, although none has received general acceptance- modern scholars believe it may have been intended to be a riddle, with the answer of "an egg".

固有名詞

Humpty Dumpty

1. A nursery rhyme character who falls from a wall and breaks irreparably in the manner of an egg; (figurative) by extension, anything similarly fragile, irreparably damaged, or insecure, precariously at risk of such irreparable damage.
   • 1907, Annie van Sommer et al., Our Moslem Sisters..., page 210:

     ... she sits perched high up, astride a man's saddle, looking in her balloon garments, and doubtless feeling, more insecure than Humpty Dumpty on the wall.

   • 2009, Philip Kennedy, A Modern Introduction to Theology: New Questions for Old Beliefs:

     For many people, traditional Christian theology is a Humpty-Dumpty: it has tumbled from its perch and can't be put together again.

派生語

• Humpty Dumptyish
• Humpty Dumptyism
• Humpty Dumpty word

関連する語

• humpty

名詞

Humpty Dumpty (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) A Romani drink of ale boiled with brandy.

参照