Allusions

Den of thieves

"And [Jesus] said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." (Matthew 21:13) A house of prayer: place of sacred worship. A den of thieves: A cave full of robbers. The language indicates that it was a corrupt and fraudulent traffic, which a corrupt and fraudulent priesthood had permitted to encroach on the worship of God. It is a desecration of religious (and other) institutions to use them for worldly gain.

David and Goliath

A Goliath is a large person; from the giant from the Philistine city of Gath, slain by David, when he was a shepherd boy. Thus, a reference to David is a reference to a victorious underdog in a contest with a superior (seeming) opponent.

Jekyll and Hyde L

A capricious person with two sides to his/her personality; from a character in the famous novel DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE who had more than one personality, a split personality (one good and one evil)

Fifth Column H

A clandestine subversive organization (an enemy in your midst ) working within a country through espionage or sabotage to further an invading enemy's military and political aims. [First applied in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War to rebel sympathizers inside Madrid when four columns of rebel troops were attacking that city]

My Man Friday L

A faithful and willing attendant, ready to turn his hand to anything; from the young savage found by Robinson Crusoe on a Friday, and kept as his servant and companion on the desert island [from Defoe's novel ROBINSON CRUSOE]

Jeremiad

A literary work or speech expressing a bitter lament or a righteous prophecy of doom. Jeremiah was a Hebrew prophet and reformer, and the author of the Book of Jeremiah. His most significant prophecy looked to a time when God would make a new covenant with Israel. The Catcher in the Rye is, in essence, a Jeremiad, an extended complaint to God about the state of the world. Contemporary filmmaker Michael Moore has produced several cinematic jeremiads (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9-11, and Sicko).

Galahad L

A pure and noble man with limited ambition; in the legends of King Arthur, the purest and most virtuous knight of the Round Table, the only knight to find the Holy Grail

Eye of the needle

A very difficult task; from famous narrow gateway called "the needle." In the NT, Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.

The Real McCoy H

After Kid McCoy (Norman Selby McCoy, 1873-1940), American welterweight boxing champion. The story goes, and there are various versions of it, that a drunk challenged Selby in a bar packed full of admirers to prove that he was actually the champion McCoy and not one of the many lesser boxers trading under the same name. After being knocked to the floor in one punch, the drunk rose to admit that 'Yes, that's the real McCoy'.

Maverick H

After Samuel Maverick, a 19th century American pioneer who refused to brand his cattle as everyone else seemed to do; to call someone a maverick is to identify him or her as an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

Something Rotten in Denmark L

After the ghost of Hamlet's father appears to Hamlet, Marcellus, and Horatio, Marcellus states that "something is rotten in the state of Denmark." literally meaning that something is wrong with the government of Denmark. The ghost relates how his brother Claudius, the current king, murdered him so he could become king. Nowadays, when people say that there is "something rotten in [a place name]," the meaning is clear: there's something brewing under the surface that isn't right in [the place]. From Shakespeare's HAMLET.

Frankenstein/A Frankensteinian Monster L

Anything that threatens or destroys its creator; from the young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, in Mary Shelley's novel FRANKENSTEIN, who creates a monster that eventually destroys him

Golden calf

As recounted in the Book of Exodus, Moses went up onto Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, leaving the Israelites for forty days and forty nights. The Israelites feared that Moses would not return and asked Aaron to make idols or gods for them to worship. Aaron complied and gathered up the Israelites' golden earrings. He melted them and constructed the golden calf. Aaron also built an altar before the calf. The next day, the Israelites made offerings and celebrated. Meanwhile, the Lord told Moses that his people had corrupted themselves in idolizing false gods ("worshiping false idols"), and that he planned to punish them, which he did, later having been convinced by Moses to spare the Jews for the time being. A metaphoric interpretation emphasizes the "gold" part of "golden calf" to criticize the pursuit of wealth as an end in itself.

Cast the first stone

Be the first to attack a sinner. From the King James Bible, John 8:7: "So when they continued asking Him, [Jesus] lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

Blarney H

Blarney, Ireland is celebrated the world over for a stone on a fortified wall that is said to endow whoever kisses it with the eternal gift of eloquence , sometimes known as the 'Gift of the Gab'. The word "blarney" has also come to mean to placate with soft talk or to deceive without offending, deriving as custom would have it from the stream of unfulfilled promises of Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy to the Lord President of Munster in the late sixteenth century. Having seemingly agreed to deliver his castle to the Crown, he continuously delayed doing so with soft words, which came to be known as "Blarney talk."

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John the Evangelist at 6:1-8. The chapter tells of a "'book', or 'scroll', in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals". The Lamb of God, or Lion of Judah, (Jesus Christ) opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses. Although some interpretations differ, in most accounts, the four riders are seen as symbolizing Conquest, War, Famine and Death, respectively. The Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment.

Faustian Bargain/The Devil to Pay L

Dr. Faustus, a respected German scholar, makes a deal with Mephistopheles, an agent of Lucifer: his soul for supernatural power. For twenty-four years he will be granted everything he wishes, and always thereafter his soul will belong wholly to the Devil. The years pass quickly, and eventually the Devil must be paid. Of course, Faustus made a bad deal, a Faustian bargain. It's the devil to pay when any onerous obligation must be met. [Christopher Marlowe made use of the legend in his play DOCTOR FAUSTUS, as did Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his FAUST.]

Forbidden fruit

Illicit pleasure; something that one should not take or get involved with, such as an another person's spouse. With reference to Genesis 2:17: 'But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' (King James Bible)

Blind leading the blind

In Luke 6 (and Matthew 15:14) Christ tells this parable to His disciples: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." (Lk. 6:39-40) Christ's parable about the blind leading the blind wasn't intended to be used as a tool to gauge others leadership, but rather our own. How good a job we do.

Lamb to the slaughter

In an unconcerned manner - unaware of any impending catastrophe. From Jeremiah 11:19: "But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, [saying,] 'Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, And let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name be remembered no more' and Isaiah 53:7: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." - both King James Version

"It's [all] Greek to me" L

In recounting Caesar's fainting episode and Cicero's reaction to it in Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR, Casca says "those that understood him [Cicero] smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me." In other words, Cicero's reaction to the incident was incomprehensible to Casca because he could not understand the more sophisticated Greek language used by the Senator and his cohorts.

Green-Eyed Monster L

In the pretext of giving friendly advice, Iago warns Othello against being jealous of his popular wife. He says, "O beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feed on," referring to felines - cats, lions, leopards - that torment their prey before killing it. Because of Iago's description of jealousy, it is often spoken of as the green-eyed monster. [From Shakespeare's OTHELLO]

Patience of Job

Job suffers a great deal but remains faithful; from an OT character whose faith in God was tested by Satan; though he lost his family and belongings, he remained patient and faithful. James 5.11: "You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy."

Walking on water

Matthew 14:22-33 Following the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sent the disciples by boat to the other side of Lake Galilee while he remained behind, alone, to pray. Night fell, the wind rose, and the boat became caught in a storm. In the midst of the storm and the darkness the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea. They were frightened, thinking they were seeing a spirit, but Jesus told them not to be afraid, they were reassured. Jesus calmed the storm and entered the boat, and they went on to the shore.

Pearls before swine (or cast one's pearls before swine)

Matthew 7:6 Do not offer your doctrine to those violent and abusive people who would growl and curse you; nor to those especially debased who would not perceive its value, would trample it down, and would abuse you.

John Hancock H

One's signature has become known as "one's John Hancock" after American Statesman John Hancock who was the first person to sign The Declaration of Independence and whose clear and legible signature is the most prominent on the document.

Shylock/A Pound of Flesh L

Says Shylock in Shakespeare's MERCHANT OF VENICE, "The pound of flesh which I demand of him Is deerely bought, 'tis mine, and I will have it." Calling one a shylock is saying that he or she is an avaricious, acquisitive, miserly individual. To say that a person is always demanding his "pound of flesh" is to say that he takes the last morsel of advantage he can possibly squeeze out of anyone without concern for the pain and anguish he may cause. The figurative use of the phrase to refer to any lawful but nevertheless unreasonable recompense dates to the late 18th century.

Read the Riot Act H

Since the early 19th century we have used 'read the riot act' as a figurative phrase to describe attempts to calm groups of rowdies - along the same lines as 'you noisy louts, don't you know there are people here trying to sleep?' The actual 'Riot Act' was passed by the British government in 1714 and came into force in 1715. The Riot Act, which was more formally called 'An act for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishing the rioters' actually contained this warning: "Our sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God save the King." The crowd had an hour to disperse or face imprisonment

Fly in the ointment

The English idiom That's the fly in the ointment is used to express a drawback, especially one that was not at first apparent, e.g. Sam's lack of map-reading skills turned out to be the fly in the ointment when he applied for the job. A likely source is a phrase in the King James Bible: "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour." (Ecclesiastes 10:1) For five centuries now 'a fly in the ointment' has meant a small defect that spoils something valuable or is a source of annoyance. The modern version thus suggests that something unpleasant may come or has come to light in a proposition or condition that is almost too pleasing; that there is something wrong hidden, unexpected somewhere

Land of milk and honey

The original expression, "a land flowing with milk and honey", is a Biblical reference to the agricultural abundance of the Land of Israel. The first reference appears in Exodus 3:8 during Moses's vision of the burning bush: "And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites." (KJV)

Armageddon

The place of the last decisive battle at the Day of Judgment; hence used allusively for any 'final' conflict on a great scale

Malapropism L

The usually unintentional humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase, especially the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended, but ludicrously wrong in context - Example: polo bears. Mrs. Malaprop was a character noted for her misuse of words in R. B. Sheridan's comedy THE RIVALS

To meet one's Waterloo H

To experience a decisive or final defeat or setback; Waterloo in Belgium was the scene of Napoleon's last defeat, a crushing blow, in 1815.

Whitewash a Fence/Pull a Tom Sawyer L

With the words "Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?" Tom Sawyer cleverly creates interest in a task that he himself would rather avoid having to do. Soon enough, Tom's friends are actually paying him for the privilege of doing his work.

Judas

a Judas is a traitor. The Biblical Judas was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus, notorious for betraying Jesus. His surname in Latin means "murderer" or "assassin." According to the account given in the Gospel of John, Judas carried the disciples' money bag and betrayed Jesus for a bribe of thirty pieces of silver by identifying him with a kiss—the so-called "kiss of Judas"—to arresting soldiers of the High Priest Caiaphas, who then turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate's soldiers.

Yahoo L

a boorish, crass, or stupid person; from a member of a race of brutes in Swift's GULLIVER'S TRAVELS who have the form and all the vices of humans

Silver Lining L

a comforting or hopeful aspect of an otherwise desperate or unhappy situation (from the proverbial phrase "Every cloud has a silver lining.")

Walter Mitty L

a commonplace non-adventuresome person who seeks escape from reality through Daydreaming, a henpecked husband or dreamer; after a daydreaming henpecked "hero;" in a story by James Thurber, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

Shangri-La L

a fictional place described in the 1933 novel LOST HORIZON by British author James Hilton. In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. The people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly aging in appearance. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. Shangri-la is often used in a similar context to which "Garden of Eden" might be used, to represent an awesome paradise that exists hidden from modern man. It can sometimes be used as an analogy for a life-long quest or something elusive that is much sought. For a man who spends his life obsessively looking for a cure to a disease, such a cure could be said to be that man's "Shangri-La". It also might be used to represent perfection that is sought by man in the form of love, happiness, or Utopian ideals.

Simon Legree L

a harsh, cruel, or demanding person in authority, such as an employer or officer that acts in this manner ; from UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by abolitionist writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, the brutal slave overseer. Uncle Tom - someone thought to have the timid service attitude like that of a slave to his owner; from the humble, pious, long-suffering Negro slave in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

Chimera

a horrible creature of the imagination, an absurd or impossible idea; wild fancy; a monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail, supposed to breathe out fire

Limerick H

a humorous or nonsense verse of five lines; from Limerick, a county in Republic of Ireland where the form is said to have originated

Marathon H

a long distance race; source of the Victory of the Greeks over Persians in 490 B.C.

Casanova H

a man who is amorously and gallantly attentive to women; a promiscuous man.; Giovanni Jacopo Casanova De Seingalt (1725-98), an Italian adventurer who established a legendary reputation as a lover

Centaur

a monster that had the head, arms, and chest of a man, and the body and legs of a horse

Pollyanna L

a person characterized by impermissible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything, a foolishly or blindly optimistic person; from Eleanor Porter's heroine, Pollyanna Whittier, in the book POLLYANNA

Philistine

a person indifferent or hostile to the arts and refinement; from Sea-going people from Crete who became enemies of the Israelites and fought over their lands

Cassandra

a person who continually predicts misfortune but often is not believed; from (Greek legends) a daughter of Priam cursed by Apollo for not returning his love; he left her with the gift of prophecy but made it so no one would believe her

Apollo

a physically perfect male; the God of music and light; known for his physical beauty

El Dorado H

a place of reputed wealth; from the legendary city in South America, sought by early Spanish explorers

Pooh-bah L

a pompous, ostentatious official, especially one who, holding many offices, fulfills none of them, a person who holds high office ; after Pooh-Bah Lord-High-Everything-Else, character in THE MIKADO, a musical by Gilbert and Sullivan

Catch-22 L

a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule (e.g., you must stay out of the water until you know how to swim); also, the circumstance or rule that denies a solution; an illogical, unreasonable, or senseless situation; a measure or policy whose effect is the opposite of what was intended; a situation presenting two equally undesirable alternatives; a hidden difficulty or means of entrapment

Don Juan L

a profligate man obsessed with seducing women; after Don Juan, the legendary 14th century Spanish nobleman and libertine

Eye for an eye

a quotation from Exodus (21:23-27) in which a person who has taken the eye of another in a fight is instructed to give his own eye in compensation. At the root of this principle is that one of the purposes of the law is to provide equitable retaliation for an offended party. It defined and restricted the extent of retaliation in the laws of the Old Testament. Often referred to as "Old Testament Justice."

Babbitt L

a self-satisfied person concerned chiefly with business and middle-class ideals like material success; a member of the American working class whose unthinking attachment to its business and social ideals is such to make him a model of narrow-mindedness and self-satisfaction ; after George F. Babbitt, the main character in the novel BABBITT by Sinclair Lewis

Manna (from Heaven)

a sustaining life-giving source or food; from the sweetish bread-like food that fell from heaven for the Israelites as they crossed the Sinai Desert to the Promised Land with Moses

Milquetoast L

a timid, weak, or unassertive person; from Casper Milquetoast, who was a comic strip character created by H.T. Webster

Prodigal Son

a wasteful son who disappoints his father; from the NT parable of a man with two sons. When he split his estate between the two, the younger son gathered his fortune and left home to live the wild life, while the older son stayed home to work in the fields. When the younger son spent all of the money, he came crawling back to his father, who accepted him, pardoning his error by saying he was "lost but was found."

Solomon

an extremely wise person; from the son of King David, the Israelite king who wrote Proverbs, and was known for wisdom

Utopia H

an imaginary and perfect society; British 1610, source Thomas More's novel Utopia

Utopia L

an imaginary island described by Sir Thomas More in his UTOPIA, a book that offers a satirical view of an ideal society free of poverty and suffering. The expression utopia is coined from Greek words and means "no place," suggesting the fantasy underlying any utopian model. The word is just as likely to be used pejoratively to describe an unrealistic ideal that is impossible to achieve

Sodom and Gomorrah

any place associated with wickedness or sin; from the evil cities of the OT that were destroyed by fire

Donnybrook H

any riotous occasion; taken from the Donnybrook Fair, held in Dublin County, Ireland until 1855, which was famous for rioting and dissipation

Aeolian

anything pertaining to wind; god who was Keeper of Wind

Attila H

barbarian, rough leader; King of the Huns from 433-453 and the most successful of the barbarian invaders of the Roman Empire.

Aurora

early morning or sunrise; from the Roman personification of Dawn or Eos

Nostradamus H

fortune teller; (1503-66) French physician and astrologer who wrote a book of rhymed prophecies

Cain and Abel/Brother's keeper

from the story of Adam and Eve's son Cain, who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. When God asked Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" Cain replied, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" The phrase has come to indicate someone avoiding responsibility for the welfare of others.

Spartan H

frugal and bare, simple, disciplined and stern and brave; having to do with Sparta, an important City in Greece. The Spartans were known for simplicity of life, severity, courage, and brevity of speech.

Brobdingnagian L

gigantic, enormous, on a large scale, enlarged ; after Brobdingnag, the land of giants visited by Gulliver in GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, by Jonathan Swift. Lilliputian - descriptive of a very small person or of something diminutive, trivial or petty; after the Lilliputians, tiny people in GULLIVER'S TRAVELS

Adonis

handsome young man; Aphrodite loved him.

Stonewall H

hinder or obstruct by evasive, delaying tactics; in cricket: trying to go completely defensive, blocking every ball without trying to score; relating to Stonewall Jackson (Thomas J. Jackson) Confederate General from the remark during the Battle of Bull Run: "Look as Jackson's men; they stand like a stone wall."

McCarthyism H

modern witch hunt, the practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversions with insufficient regard to evidence, the use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods, in order to suppress opposition; afterJoseph McCarthy (1908-57), an American politician who as a US senator from WWI publicly accused many citizens of subversion

Machiavellian H

of or relating to Machiavelli or Machiavellianism, characterized by expedience, deceit and cunning; after Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1537), a philosopher known for his treaties and political expediency; wrote "The Prince" (1513)

Argus-eyed

omniscient, all-seeing; from Argus, the 100-eyed monster that Hera had guarding Io

Gung Ho H

one of the many phrases that entered the English language as a result of World War II. It comes from a Mandarin Chinese word meaning "to work together," which was used as a motto by the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society.Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson (1896-1947) borrowed the motto as a moniker for meetings in which problems were discussed and worked out; the motto caught on among his Marines (the famous "Carlson's Raiders"), who began calling themselves the "Gung Ho Battalion." From there eager individuals began to be referred to as gung ho.

Scapegoat

one that is made an object of blame for others; the goat was symbolically burdened with the sins of Jewish people and thrown over a precipice outside of Jerusalem to rid the nation of iniquities.

Horatio Alger H

one who believes that a person can make it on his own merits; from (1832-99) American writer of inspirational adventure books

Jonah

one who brings bad luck; an OT prophet who ran from God and sailed to sea. When a storm arose, he admitted that he was the cause, and the sailors threw him overboard, where he was swallowed by a large fish. Jonah 1:15: "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging."

Chauvinist H

one who has a militant devotion to and glorification of one's country, fanatical patriotism, prejudiced belief in the superiority of one's own gender, group, or kind; after Nicolas Chauvin a legendary French soldier devoted to Napoleon

Bacchanalian

pertaining to a wild, drunken party or celebration from god of wine, Bacchus (Roman), Dionysus (Greek)

Sour Grapes L

pretended disdain for something one does not or cannot have; from a fable of Aesop concerning the fox who, in an effort to save face, dismissed as sour those grapes he could not reach.

The Piper Must be Paid L

refers to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a cautionary tale, if there ever was one. A wandering piper dressed in pied (colorfully patched) clothing has been employed by the town elders of Hamelin to rid the village of rats. He does so by playing a musical pipe to lure the rats with a song into a local river, where they all drown. When the elders refuse to pay him, the Pied Piper abducts all of the children in the village as punishment, leading them from the village and into a cave by playing his pipe. The children never return. The lesson of the tale: pay your debts (financial or otherwise) or face the consequences.

Swiftian H

satirical; from Jonathan Swift's famous satire on politics Gulliver's Travels

Falstaffian L

self-indulgent and vain, yet full of wit and bawdy humor; ; after Sir John Falstaff, a fat, sensual, boastful, and mendacious knight who was the companion of Henry, Prince of Wales, in Shakespeare's HENRY IV plays

Don Quixote L

someone overly idealistic to the point of having impossible dreams; from the crazed and impoverished Spanish noble who sets out to revive the glory of knighthood, romanticized in the musical "The Man of La Mancha" based on the novel DON QUIXOTE by Cervantes; Quixotic/Tilting at Windmills - having foolish and impractical ideas of honor, or schemes for the general good, again after Don Quixote, the half-crazed reformer and knight protector of the supposed distressed.

Good Samaritan

someone who helps another person, perhaps someone of a different race or background; from a NT parable about a Samaritan, a traditional enemy of the Hebrews, who stopped to help a Jewish man who had been beaten and left for dead at the side of the road.

An Albatross around One's Neck L

sometimes used to mean an encumbrance, or a wearisome burden. It is an allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. In the poem, an albatross starts to follow a ship — being followed by an albatross was generally considered an omen of good luck. However, the ancient mariner shoots the albatross with a crossbow, which is regarded as an act that will curse the ship (which indeed suffers terrible mishaps). To punish him, his companions induce him to wear the dead albatross around his neck indefinitely (until they all die from the curse, as it happens). Thus the albatross can be both an omen of good or bad luck, as well as a metaphor for a burden to be carried (as penance).

Atlantean

strong like Atlas—who carried the globe (world) on his shoulders

Original Sin/The "Fall"

the idea that all men are innately sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's fall from the state of innocence. When they ate of the forbidden fruit, they were cast out of the Biblical Garden of Eden; a post-biblical expression for the doctrine of Adam's transgression and mankind's consequential inheritance of a sinful nature because he ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.

Keep the Ball Rolling H

the phrase owes its origin and popularity to the US presidential election of July 1840. That election is widely regarded as introducing all the paraphernalia of present-day elections, i.e. campaign songs, advertising slogans and publicity stunts of all kinds. Harrison's campaign literature referred to Victory Balls. These weren't, as we might expect, dance parties that celebrated his famous victory, but ten-foot diameter globes made of tin and leather, which were pushed from one campaign rally to the next. His supporters were invited to attend rallies and push the ball on to the next town, chanting 'keep the ball rolling'

Eat crow H

to admit one's mistake and apologize for the blunder or misdeed

"Hoist with his own petard" L

to be caught up and destroyed by one's own plot. Hamlet's actual meaning is "cause the bomb maker to be blown up with his own bomb", metaphorically turning the tables on Claudius, whose messengers (and would-be assassins) are killed instead of Hamlet. [From Shakespeare's HAMLET]

Bowdlerize H

to censor, expurgate prudishly, to modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing content; after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who expurgated Shakespeare 4. Boycott - to act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion, the act or an instance of boycotting; after Charles C. Boycott (1832-97), of Ireland. Boycott, a former British soldier, refused to charge lower rents and ejected his tenants. Boycott and his family found themselves without servants, farmlands, service in stores, or mail delivery. Boycott's name was quickly adapted as the term for this treatment.

Shanghai H

to cheat or steal, to make drugs, liquor, etc.. to bring or get by trickery or force; a seaport in East China, from Shanghai because sailor for voyages there were often secured by illicit means

Mesmerize H

to induce the state of being hypnotized; F.A. Mesmer, an Austrian physician who used hypnotism and developed a theory called "animal magnetism"

Hackney H

to make something banal or trite by frequent use, a horse for ordinary riding or driving, a horse kept for hire, let out, employed, or done for hire; from Hackney, the most common breed of heavy harness horses in the US.

Gird up one's loins

to prepare oneself for something requiring readiness, strength, or endurance. Likely a Hebraism, often used in the King James Bible (e.g., 2 Kings 4:29). Literally referred to the need to strap a belt around one's waist when getting up in order to avoid the cloak falling off.

Achilles' heel

today, one spot that is most vulnerable; one weakness a person may have. Achilles was invulnerable except for his heel (Achilles tendon).

Handwriting on the wall

what the future holds; from the OT story of Daniel, who was able to accurately predict some mysterious writing that appeared on a wall (translated, it predicted the imminent death of the king)