c**i
发帖数: 6973 | 1 Andrew Roberts, O Captain, Our Captain; George Washington was a genius and a
titan, but it was politics, not war, at which he excelled. Wall Street
Journal, Oct. 2, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882404575520061512222160.html
Note:
(1) feline (adj):
"2: resembling a cat: as
a : sleekly graceful
b : SLY, TREACHEROUOS
c : STEALTHY
All definitions are from www.m-w.com, except where noted.
(2) It is unclear (to me) what the first sentence means. But see
Otto von Bismarck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck
(his mother, Wilhelmine Luise Mencken (Potsdam, 24 February 1789 – Berlin),
the well-educated daughter of a senior government official in Berlin. A. J.
P. Taylor later remarked on the importance of this dual heritage: although
Bismarck physically resembled his father, and appeared as a Prussian Junker
to the outside world—an image which he often encouraged by wearing military
uniform, even though he was not a regular officer—he was also more
cosmopolitan and highly educated than was normal for men of such background.)
* portentous (adj): "self-consciously solemn or important"
(3) acute (adj; Latin acutus, past participle of acuere to sharpen, from
acus needle): "marked by keen discernment or intellectual perception
especially of subtle distinctions : penetrating "
(4) bluff (adj): "good-naturedly frank and outspoken"
(5) wrench (vi, vt): "to move with a violent twist"
(6) The author wrote, "In this (English, anti-Revolutionary) reviewer's
estimation, Washington emerges a far greater man."
The first clause refers to Mr. Roberts as Englishman who has dim view about
American Revolution.
(7) ride to hounds: "to take part in a fox hunt with hounds"
Collins English Dictionary (10th ed, 2009)
(8) For "ravening," see
raven (vi, vt): "to feed greedily"
(9) Mount Vernon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vernon
(section 1 Name)
(10) phlegmatic (adj):
"1: resembling, consisting of, or producing the humor phlegm
2: having or showing a slow and stolid temperament"
(11) Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge,_Pennsylvania
Valley Forge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge
(the site of the camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of
1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War)
(12) dodgy (adj): "chiefly British QUESTIONAL, SUSPICIOUS"
(13) French and Indian War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_War
(The French and Indian War is the common U.S. name for the war between Great
Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756 the war
erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus
came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war)
(14) ethereal (adj):
"1a: of or relating to the regions beyond the earth
b: CELESTIAL, HEAVENLY
c: UNWORLDLY, SPIRITUAL"
(15) The article says, "The rookie commander in chief took six months to
make Gen. William Howe evacuate Boston."
That alludes to Siege of Boston.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Boston
(16) Battle of Long Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island
(also known as the Battle of Brooklyn; fought on August 27, 1776; the first
major battle in the American Revolutionary War following the United States
Declaration of Independence, the largest battle of the entire conflict;
outcome: Washington and the Continental Army were driven out of New York
entirely after several more defeats and forced to retreat through New Jersey
and into Pennsylvania)
I will complete tomorrow. |
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