the flyman's plot
The list of all the articles required by the flyman in the play produced.
Browse English 5232
All languages English Tiếng Việt
Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
the following day
the day after a particular day or event
the food of the gods
See AMBROSIA ; NECTAR. To become food for the worms, or for the fishes. To be dead and buried, or to be drowned.
The Fool Bible
During the reign of Charles I an edition of the Bible was printed in which the text of Psalm xliv, 1 read "The fool hath said in his heart there is a God." For this mistake the printers were fined £3,000 and all copies were suppressed.
the forks
The gallows (Lat. furca). The word also meant a kind of yoke, with two arms stretching over the shoulders, to which the criminal's hands were tied. The punishment was of three degrees of severity: (1) The furca ignomimosa; (2) the furca panalis> and (3) the furca capitalis. The first was for slight offences, and consisted in carrying the furca on the shoulders, more or less weighted.
The four Marys
Mary Beaton (or Bethune), Mary Livingston (or Leusori), Mary Fleming (or Flemyng), and Mary Seaton (or Seyton); called the "Queen's Marys," that is, the ladies of the same age as Mary, afterwards Queen of Scots, and her companions. Mary Carmichael was not one of the four, although introduced in the well-known ballad.
the four seas
The seas surrounding Great Britain, on the north, south, east, and west.
The Fox and Goose
To signify that there are arrangements within for playing the Royal Game of Fox and Goose.
the fox and the grapes
"It's a case of the fox and the grapes" is said of one who wants something badly but cannot obtain it, and so tries to create the impression that he doesn't want it at all. The allusion is to one of ^Esop's fables. See GRAPES.
the fox, when he cannot reach the grapes, says they are not ripe
Describes someone expressing discontent or disparagement towards something unattainable
The French Iliad
The Romance of the Rose (see ROSE) has been so called. Similarly, the Nibelungenlied (q.v.) and the Lusiad (<?.v.) have been called respectively the German and Portuguese Iliad.
The Friend of Man
The name given to the Marquis de Mirabeau (1715-89), father of Mirabeau, the French revolutionary orator. His great work was VAmi des Homines, hence the nickname.
the gall of bitterness
The bitterest grief; extreme affliction. The ancients taught that grief and joy were subject to the gall as affec- tion was to the heart, knowledge to the kidneys, and the gall of bitterness means the bitter centre of bitterness, as the heart of heart means the innermost recesses of the heart or affections. In the Acts it is used to signify "the sinfulness of sin,*' which leads to the bitterest grief.
the gall of pigeons
The story goes that Eigeons have no gall, because the dove sent -om the ark by Noah burst its gall out of grief, and none of the pigeon family has had a gall ever since.
The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling. (Ambrose Bierce)
Society frowns on gambling, but business involves similar risks
the game is up
A secret or deception has been exposed
the game is up
The scheme, endeavour, etc., has come to nothing; everything has failed.
the game's afoot
The hare has started; the enterprise has begun.
The Garden
The disciples of Epicurus, who taught in his own private garden.
The Garden of Eden
See EDEN. The name as applied to Mesopotamia, with its vast sandy deserts, is nowadays somewhat ironical; but it is traditionally supposed to be its "original site.
The Gay Science
A translation of gai saber, the old Provencal name for the art of poetry.
The Geneva Bible
A revision of great importance in the history of the English Bible, undertaken by English exiles at Geneva during the Marian persecutions and first published m 1560.
The Geneva Bull
A nickname given to Stephen Marshall (c. 1594-1655), a Presby- terian divine, and one of the authors of Smectymnuus (?.v.), because he was a disciple of John Calvin, of Geneva, and when preach- ing he roared like a "bull of Bashan.
the genie is out of the bottle
A secret or problem is now public and cannot be hidden
the genie's out of the bottle
A secret or problem is now public and cannot be hidden or solved easily
The Gentle Shepherd
A nickname given by Pitt to George Grenville (1712-70). In the course of a speech on the cider tax (1763) Grenville addressed the House somewhat plaintively: "Tell me where? tell me where?" Pitt hummed a line of a song then very popular, "Gentle shepherd, tell me where?
the gentleman in black velvet
It was in these words that the 18th-century Jacobites used to toast the mole that made the molehill that caused William Ill's horse to stumble and so brought about his death.
the ghost of a chance
The least likelihood. "He has not the ghost of a chance of being elected," not the shadow of a probability.
the ghost walks
Theatrical slang for salaries are about to be paid; when there's no money in the treasury actors say "the ghost won't walk this time.
the gift of tongues
Command of foreign languages; also the power claimed by the Early Church and by some later mystics (as the Irvingites) of conversing and understanding unknown tongues (from the miracle at Pente- cost— Acts ii, 4). The three tongues. See THREE.
The girdle of Venus
See CESTUS. To put a girdle round the earth. To travel or go round it. Puck says, "I'll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes." (Midsummer Nighf's Dream, ii, 2.
The Glastonbury Thorn
See GLASTONBURY. Thorough, The name given by the Earl of Strafford (executed 1641) to his uncom- promising absolutist policy in favour of Charles I and against Parliament; especially to his^ harsh Irish policy, which he was determined to carry through regardless of all opposition and of all suffering.
The Globe
The royal cognizance of Portugal ; intimating that Portuguese wines were stocked. The Goat and Compasses. See GOAT.
the god of flies
In the temple of Actium the Greeks used annually to sacrifice an ox to Zeus, who, in this capacity, was sur- named Apomyios, the averter of flies. Pliny tells us that at Rome sacrifice was offered to flies in the temple of Hercules Victor, and the Syrians offered sacrifice to the same insects. See ACHOR; BEELZEBUB.
the god of love
Generally meaning either Eros (Gr.) or Cupid (Roman mythology). Among the Scandinavians Freyja was the goddess of sexual love, and among the Hindus Kama more or less takes the place of Eros.
The Goddess of Reason
The central figure in an attempt to substitute a religion for Chris- tianity during the French Revolution, which was known as The Feast of Reason. The role was taken by various young women who, in turns, were enthroned and "worshipped" in the cathedral of Notre Dame. Mile Condeille, of the Opera, was one of the earliest of these "goddesses" (Nov.
the gods smile on someone
Good things happen to someone due to luck or fate
The Gold and Silver Shield
A mediaeval allegory tells how two knights coming from opposite directions stopped in sight of a shield suspended from a tree branch, one side of which was gold and the other silver, and disputed about its metal, proceeding from words to blows. Luckily a third knight came up: the point was referred to him, and the disputants were informed that the shield was silver on one side and gold on the other.
The Gold Key
The office of Groom of the Stole (see STOLE), the holder of which had a golden key as his emblem.
The Gold Purse of Spain
Andalusia is so called because it is the most fertile portion of Spam.
the gold standard
A monetary standard based only on the value of gold.
the golden calf
See GOLDEN (PHRASES). There are many ways of dressing a calf's head. Many ways of saying or doing a foolish thing; a simpleton has many ways of showing his folly; or, generally, if one way won't do we must try another. The allusion is to the banquets of the Calves' Head Club (#.v.).
The Golden Cross
This refers to the ensigns carried by the Crusaders.
the golden section of a line
Its division into ^°. such parts that the area of the rectang e contained by the smaller segment and the whole line equals that of the square on the larger segment. (Euclid, ii.
The Golden Stream
St. John Damascene (d. 756), author of Dogmatic Theology. The Golden-tongued (Gr. Chryso logos'). St. Peter, Bishop of Ravenna (d. about 449), was so called.
The Golden-mouthed
St. Chrysostom (d. 407), a father of the Greek Church, was so called for his great eloquence.
the good die young
Virtuous people often die prematurely
the good is the enemy of the best
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
the good things about something
The positive aspects of something
The Goose and Gridiron
A public-house sign, properly the coat of arms of the Company of Musicians — viz. a swan with expanded wings, within a double tressure [the gridiron], counter, flory, argent.
The Goose Bible
The editions of the Genevan Bible (<?.v.) printed at Dort; the Dort press had a goose as its device.
the gospel of wealth
The hypothesis that wealth is the great end and aim of man, the one thing needful.
The Gradual Psalms
Ps. cxx to cxxxiv in- clusive; probably so called because they were sung when the ascent to the inner court was made by the priests.
the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
Alternative form of the grass is always greener on the other side.
The Great Bible
Coverdale's revision of his own Bible of 1535 (see COVERD ALE'S BIBLE above), collated with Tyndale's and Matthew's, printed in Paris by Regnault, and published by Grafton and Whitchurch in 1539. It is a large folio, and a splendid specimen of typography. It is sometimes called "Cromwell's Bible," as it was undertaken at his direction, and it was made compulsory for all parish churches to purchase a copy.
The Great Duke
The Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), also called "the Iron Duke," a name later given to a famous battleship (1913).
The Great Prophets
Isaiah, Jere- miah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; so called because their writings are more extensive than the prophecies of the other twelve.
The Great White Way
The name formerly applied to Broadway, the theatrical district of New York City.
the greatest lie
In Heywood's Four PV, an interlude of about 1543, a Palmer, a Par- doner, a Poticary, and a Pedlar disputed as to which could tell the greatest lie. The Palmer said he had never seen a woman out of patience; whereupon the other three P's threw up the sponge, saying such a falsehood could not possibly be outdone.
The Green Howards
The official name, since- 1920, of the Yorkshire Regiment, the l$Tth of the line, named after Sir Charles Howard, colonel from 1738 to 1748. Green was the colour of the regimental facings.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.