meanings and origin of ‘bell, book, and candle’
14th century—a form of excommunication from the Catholic Church—by extension any process of condemnation carried out thoroughly
Read MoreTag: Shakespeare
the phrase ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’
an extremely beautiful woman—alludes to the description of Helen of Troy in Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’—has given rise to countless adaptations
Read More‘the beast with two backs’ | ‘la bête à deux dos’
a man and woman in the act of copulation—English: earliest in Shakespeare’s Othello—perhaps a calque of French: earliest in Rabelais’s Gargantua (1542)
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘the great unwashed’
UK, 1829—a pejorative appellation of the lower classes by the middle and upper classes, although apparently appropriated by the lower classes
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘alarums and excursions’
confused activity and uproar—alludes to the frequent collocation of ‘alarum’ and ‘excursion’ in stage directions in Shakespearean drama
Read Moreorigin of ‘beard the lion in his den’ (confront someone on their own ground)
Scotland, 1749—from the idea of daring to grab a lion’s “beard” and figurative uses of ‘beard’: (verb) ‘confront’ – (noun) ‘face’
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘round Robin Hood’s barn’
USA, 1797—alludes to legendary outlaw Robin Hood—’barn’ (metaphor for the country as supply of food) was applied to any large space
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’
1868, but late 16th century as ‘care [= disquiet] killed a cat’—the image is perhaps that disquiet would exhaust the nine lives allotted to a cat
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to know how many beans make five’
to be sensible and intelligent—1784 in a US publication, but attributed to “a gentleman from abroad”—‘blue’, meaningless fanciful intensive, sometimes before ‘beans’
Read Morenotes on ‘the Scottish play’ (euphemism for ‘Macbeth’)
early 20th century—according to theatrical superstition, ‘Macbeth’ is a very unlucky play—the origin of this belief is unknown
Read More