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Tag: Shakespeare

meanings and origin of ‘bell, book, and candle’

6th Sep 2019.Reading time 18 minutes.

14th century—a form of excommunication from the Catholic Church—by extension any process of condemnation carried out thoroughly

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the phrase ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’

28th Aug 2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

an extremely beautiful woman—alludes to the description of Helen of Troy in Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’—has given rise to countless adaptations

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‘the beast with two backs’ | ‘la bête à deux dos’

27th Aug 2019.Reading time 10 minutes.

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)

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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘the great unwashed’

18th Mar 2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

UK, 1829—a pejorative appellation of the lower classes by the middle and upper classes, although apparently appropriated by the lower classes

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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘alarums and excursions’

8th Jan 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

confused activity and uproar—alludes to the frequent collocation of ‘alarum’ and ‘excursion’ in stage directions in Shakespearean drama

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origin of ‘beard the lion in his den’ (confront someone on their own ground)

20th Dec 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

Scotland, 1749—from the idea of daring to grab a lion’s “beard” and figurative uses of ‘beard’: (verb) ‘confront’ – (noun) ‘face’

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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘round Robin Hood’s barn’

5th Dec 2018.Reading time 13 minutes.

USA, 1797—alludes to legendary outlaw Robin Hood—’barn’ (metaphor for the country as supply of food) was applied to any large space

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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’

16th Oct 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

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

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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘to know how many beans make five’

17th Sep 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

to be sensible and intelligent—1784 in a US publication, but attributed to “a gentleman from abroad”—‘blue’, meaningless fanciful intensive, sometimes before ‘beans’

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notes on ‘the Scottish play’ (euphemism for ‘Macbeth’)

21st Aug 2018.Reading time 15 minutes.

early 20th century—according to theatrical superstition, ‘Macbeth’ is a very unlucky play—the origin of this belief is unknown

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