banter 的词源

“用幽默的玩笑和戏谑进行攻击”，17世纪70年代，起源不明；据斯威夫特所说，这是伦敦街头俚语中的一个词。相关词：Bantered；bantering。名词“幽默的嘲讽”来自17世纪80年代。

The third refinement observable in the letter I send you, consists in the choice of certain words invented by some pretty fellows; such as banter, bamboozle, country put, and kidney, as it is there applied; some of which are now struggling for the vogue, and others are in possession of it. I have done my utmost for some years past to stop the progress of mobb and banter, but have been plainly borne down by numbers, and betrayed by those who promised to assist me. [Swift, "The Tatler," No. 230, 1710]

我寄给你的信中可观察到的第三个精炼之处在于选择了一些由某些漂亮家伙发明的词语；例如banter、bamboozle、country put和kidney，如同在那里应用的那样；其中一些词现在正在争取流行，而另一些则已经流行。我在过去几年中尽了最大努力来阻止mobb和banter的进展，但显然被人数压倒，并被那些承诺帮助我的人背叛了。[斯威夫特，《闲谈者》，第230号，1710年]