dodo: [17] When Portuguese explorers first encountered the unfortunate dodo on the island of Mauritius, it struck them as a clumsy and foolish bird, so they applied to it the Portuguese word doudo ‘simpleton’. The name has stuck in English (although in the 17th century it had some competition from the French and Dutch term dronte). The first record of the simile ‘dead as a dodo’ comes from 1904, over 200 years after the extinction of the species, although the word had been used since the late 19th century as a metaphor for someone or something hopelessly out of date: ‘He belongs to the Dodo race of real unmitigated toryism’, Lisle Carr, Judith Gwynne 1874.
dodo (n.)
1620s, from Portuguese doudo "fool, simpleton," an insult applied by Portuguese sailors to the awkward bird (Didus ineptus) they found on Mauritius island. The last record of a living one is from 1681. Applied in English to stupid persons since 1886.
雙語例句
1. Any dodo could put this together.
任何一個笨蛋都能把這個安裝好。
來自柯林斯例句
2. That strange plan of yours is now as dead as a dodo; nobody is interested in it any more.
你那項奇怪的計劃現在已經沒有指望了, 誰都對它不再感興趣了.
來自《現代英漢綜合大詞典》
3. He was aware of Dodo's innocent blue eyes regarding him.
他覺察到多多天真的藍眼睛凝視著他.
來自辭典例句
4. He supposed, though, he would dispense with Dodo soon.
可是他覺得他不久會把多多拋棄的.
來自辭典例句
5. Dodo, her expression uncertain , hovered behind O'keefe.