niminy—piminy故作文雅的；优雅的

【使用地区】：英国

【释义】：

Affectedly delicate or refined．Apparently the rhyming compound was coined by(General)John(Gentleman Johnny)Burgoyne in his novel The Heiress(1786)，when Lady Emily instructs the vulgar Miss Alscrip to stand in front of a mirror and keep pronouncing niminy—piminy to give a pretty form to the lips．In Little Dorrit(1855－1857)Dickens had Amy do the same with papa， potatoes，poultry，prunes，and prism．

意为“刻意追求的，做作的”。这一表达方式显然出自John Burgoyne在1786年发表的小说《窈窕淑女》，Emiy夫人让平民出身的Alscrip小姐站在镜子前面以优雅的口型练习发音niminy—piminy。出于同样目的，狄更斯在他的小说《小杜莉》(1855－1857)一书中让Amy练习papa，potatoes，poultry，prunes和prism一样。