| 释义 |
idiomragtag and bobtailthe ragtag and bobtailused about a group of people or things that you think has no value:Hopefully, the coming election will rid us of the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, and the rest of the ragtag and bobtail.The film is full of bonnets, servants, horses and carriages - all the ragtag and bobtail of period drama.
ragtag and bobtailThe lowest social class; the common people. You must be joking—a person of my social status can't eat with the ragtag and bobtail at a fast food place! ragtag and bobtailLow-life, riffraff. This expression dates back to the seventeenth century, when ragtag meant a ragged lot of people and bobtail a horse whose tail had been cut short (“bobbed”) and was considered valueless. Samuel Pepys in his Diary turned it about a bit: “The dining-room was full of tag rag and bobtail, dancing, singing, and drinking” (1658–59). The expression is not heard much any longer, however, at least not in the United States. |