Skulk *** Shirk & Malinger

skulk







Y



vi. (不及物動詞 intransitive verb)



          1.    躲藏;潛伏[Q]

                      There were half a dozen foxes skulking in the undergrowth.

                      在林下灌叢中潛伏著五六隻狐狸。

          2.    偷偷摸摸地行走[Q]

          3.    【主英】逃避職責



n. (名詞 noun)[C]



          1.    躲藏者;潛伏者

          2.    偷偷摸摸行走的人

          3.    【主英】躲避責任者

          4.    【舊】(狐狸等的)一群,一幫



D



–verb (used without object) 

1. to lie or keep in hiding, as for some evil reason: The [thief] skulked in the shadows. 

2. to move in a stealthy manner; slink (潛行,早產): The [panther] skulked through the bush. 

3. British. to shirk (逃避義務) duty; malinger. 裝病以逃避職責(或工作)  





shirk

–verb (used with object) 

1. to evade (work, duty, responsibility, etc.). 



–verb (used without object) 

2. to evade work, duty, etc. 

–noun 

3. a shirker.



　

Today, in the context of a relatively peaceable Northern Ireland, "Hunger" looks more or less like just another historical drama, albeit one with deep resonance for contempo auds, given the treatment of prisoners in conflicts offshore. 



However, McQueen doesn't shirk the political and moral [complexities] of Sands' stance, which get a through grilling here in a protracted dialogue between Sands (Michael Fassbender) and a priest (Liam Cunningham), who questions the [utility] of his proposed hunger strike. 



grilling 

盤問,審問,拷問



McQueen, working with a script co-credited to himself and playwright and screenwriter Enda Walsh ("Disco Pigs"), [strips] the action down to [bare], [ex]truding bones. Pic's first few reels focus not on Sands, but on two other convicts dwelling in Belfast's Maze prison's notorious "H" block where IRA prisoners were kept. 



In a barren cell whose walls are smeared (rather artistically, one might note) [with] excrement, newly arrived inmate Davey Gillen (Brian Milligan) and already resident Gerry Campbell (Liam McMahon) take part in a "blanket protest," refusing to wear prison-issue clothing because its imposition represents the government and the penal system's refusal to recognize them as political prisoners. 



They devise ingenious methods of secreting messages -- written on cigarette papers -- within assorted bodily orifices to be smuggled in and out via visitors. The prison guards react with increasing violence.





–noun 

4. a person who skulks. 

5. a pack or group of foxes. 

6. Rare. an act or instance of skulking.  



Also, sculk.



—Synonyms 

1. See lurk.



Lurk, skulk, sneak, prowl suggest avoiding observation, often because of a sinister purpose. 



To lurk is to lie in wait for someone or to hide about a place, often without motion, for periods of time. 



Skulk suggests cowardliness and stealth of movement. 



Sneak emphasizes the attempt to avoid being seen. It has connotations of slinking and of an abject meanness of manner, whether there exists a sinister intent or the desire to avoid punishment for some misdeed. 



Prowl implies the definite purpose of seeking for prey; it suggests continuous action in roaming or wandering, slowly and quietly but watchfully, as a cat that is hunting mice.



abject

–adjective 

1. utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, 

or

wretched: abject [poverty].  



2. contemptible; despicable; base-spirited: an abject [coward]. 

3. shamelessly servile; slavish. 

4. Obsolete. cast aside. 





　

All might not be completely lost, however. Norton has done some publicity, appearing at the US premiere of the picture on Sunday, skulking [up] a specially dyed green carpet with perfunctory geniality. But his other appearance hasn't been typical of an actor's PR work. 





　　

I also like the way that certain clues are planted in plain view. We can see or hear them just fine. It's that we don't know they're clues. No glowering closeups or characters skulking [in] a corner to give the game away. 



glower

–verb (used without object) 

1. to look or stare with sullen dislike, discontent, or anger. 

–noun 

2. a look of sullen dislike, discontent, or anger.  





foible (n.)

furtive 

Ageing, furtively [kinky] Donald Pleasence is married to sexy young Francoise Dorleac.



clandestine 

prowl 

stalk skulk skunk



surreptitious 

susceptible brittle (vulnerable, sensitive)

Fray