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species, although the word had been used since the late 19th century as a metaphor for someone or something hopelessly out of date: ‘He belongs to the Dodo race of real unmitigated toryism’, Lisle Carr, Judith Gwynne 1874.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.
dodo 双语例句
1. Any dodo could put this together.
任何一个笨蛋都能把这个安装好。
来自柯林斯例句
2. That strange plan of yours is now as dead as a dodo; nobody is interested in it any more.
你那项奇怪的计划现在已经没有指望了, 谁都对它不再感兴趣了.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
3. He was aware of Dodo's innocent blue eyes regarding him.
他觉察到多多天真的蓝眼睛凝视着他.
来自辞典例句
4. He supposed, though, he would dispense with Dodo soon.
可是他觉得他不久会把多多抛弃的.
来自辞典例句
5. Dodo, her expression uncertain , hovered behind O'keefe.