- 1打發、冷淡回絕（給人碰釘子）
A brush-off is rude or cold behaviour that says, without kindness, “I do not want to talk to you; I am not interested.” If you ask someone out and they answer with two words and walk away, they gave you the brush-off. It can be a short reply, a look, or not answering a message. The picture behind the word is brushing lint off a coat — you sweep the person away as if they were dust. It is informal. Friends use it; news may use it too. You give someone the brush-off, or you get the brush-off. Though actually, a polite “no, thank you” is not a brush-off. A brush-off feels like you were pushed aside, not just refused.
brush-off 是冷淡、無禮的回絕，等於不客氣地說「我沒興趣」，像約人出去，對方只回兩個字就走開。它的畫面來自拍掉大衣上的灰塵，把人像灰塵一樣掃開。常見說法是「give someone the brush-off」和「get the brush-off」。它口語，朋友之間常用，新聞也可能用。一句禮貌的「不，謝謝」不會有被推開的感覺，所以不算 brush-off。
From the word’s history
From the phrasal verb brush off.
來自片語 brush off。
組成A noun made from the phrasal verb brush off (to sweep someone away, as you brush dirt off clothes). English took the action and turned it into a thing you can “give” someone.
同家族的字
- brush offthe phrasal verb this noun comes from
- brushthe same “sweep away” idea as brushing dust off a coat
原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
brush-offnoun
- 1
An abrupt rebuff, a snub or curt rejection, a disdainful dismissal.
- A halfhearted “thank you” may be a brush-off.
- For the first time, we in the SF ghetto are beginning to get criticism – not brush-offs from literary snobs.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。