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The Turk's Head
Like the "Saracen's Head," an allusion to the Crusades.
The Twelve Tables
The tables of the Roman laws engraved on brass, brought from Athens to Rome by the decemvirs.
The Two Chairmen
Not an uncommon sign for small houses in districts (such as Charing Cross and Wardour Street) that were fashionable residential quarters in the 18th century, when sedan chairs were m vogue.
The two eyes of Greece
Athens and Sparta. To have two strings to one's DOW. See Bow.
the two-headed eagle
The German eagle has its head turned to our left hand, and the Roman eagle to our right hand. When Charlemagne was made "Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire," he joined the two heads to- gether, one looking east and the other west; consequently, the late Austrian Empire, as the direct successor of the Holy Roman Empire, included the Double-headed Eagle in its coat of arms.
The Tyrant of the Chersonese
Miltiades was so called, and yet was he, as Byron says (in The Isles of Greece), "Freedom's best and bravest friend.
The Unicorn
The Scottish supporter in the royal arms of Great Britain.
The Union Rose
The combined emblematic rose of the Houses of York and Lancaster, the petals of which are white and red; white representing York, and red representing
The University Tests Act
An Act passed in 1871 abolishing in the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham subscriptions to the XXXIX Articles, all declarations and oaths concerning religious belief, and all compulsory attendance at public worship.
The Unrighteous Bible
An edition printed at Cambridge in 1653, containing the printer's error, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit [for shall not inherit] the Kingdom of God?" (1 Cor. vi, 9). The same edition gave Rom. vi, 13, as: " Neither yield ye your members as instruments of righteousness unto sin," in place of "w/zrighteousness." This is also sometimes known as the "Wicked Bible.
The Upper Ten
The aristocracy, the cream of society. Short for the upper ten thousand. The term was first used by N. P.
The usual illustration of St
Martin is in allusion to the legend that when he was a military tribune stationed at Amiens he once, in midwinter, divided his cloak with a naked beggar, who craved alms of him before the city gates. At night, the story says, Christ Himself appeared to the soldier, arrayed in this very garment.
The Vale of Tears
This world (cp, BACA). Tec, or 'Tec. Slang for a detective. Te Deum, The (tede'um). This liturgical hymn, so called from the opening words of the Latin original, Te Deum laudamus ("Thee God, we praise"), was formerly ascribed to St. Ambrose, but is probably of later date. The story was that St. Ambrose improvised it while baptizing St. Augustine (386).
the vast majority of something
Almost all of something
the very thing
Just what I was wanting; just what will meet the case. You can have too much of a good thing.
The Vicar of Bray
A semi-legendary vicar of Bray, Berkshire, who, between 1520 and 1560, was twice a Papist and twice a Protestant in successive reigns. His name has been given as Symonds, Alleyne, and Pendelton, and his date transferred to the time of Charles II. Historically nothing is known of him ; the well- known song is said to have been written in Restoration times by an officer in Colonel Fuller's regiment.
The vicar of Bray will be vicar of Bray. (Manser, 2007 p. 286)
Someone who adapts to circumstances to maintain position
The Vicar of Christ
A title given to the Pope, in allusion to his clai$i to be the representative of Christ on earth.
The Vicar of Hell
A name playfully given by Henry VIII to John Skelton, his "poet laureate," perhaps because Skelton was rector of Diss, in Norfolk, the pun being on
The Vinegar Bible
An edition printed at Oxford in 1717 in which the chapter heading to Luke xx is given as "The parable of the Vinegar" (instead of "Vineyard").
The Virgin Queen
Elizabeth I; also called (by Shakespeare) "the fair Vestal.
The voice of the people is the voice of god. (Strauss, 1994 p. 1164)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
The vow of Odin
A matrimonial or other vow made before the "Stone of Odm," in the
the vultures are circling
People are waiting for someone to fail or die to gain advantage
The Wars of the Roses
A civil contest that lasted thirty years, in which eighty princes of the blood, a large portion of the English nobility, and some 100,000 common soldiers were slain.
The Watch on the Rhine
A national song of the old German Empire, sharing the place of honour v/ith'Deutschland uber Alles (Germany over all).
the water of jealousy
If a woman was known to have committed adultery she was to be stoned to death, according to the Mosaic law (Deut. xxii, 22). If, however, the husband had no proof, but only suspected his wife of infidelity, he might take her before the Sanhedrin to be examined, and if she denied it, she was given the "water of jealousy" to drink (Numb, v, 11-29).
The Waterloo Cup
The "Derby" of the coursing fraternity; the great dog-race held annually at Altcar during three days in February.
the way to a man's heart is through his stomach
A man's affection can be won by cooking him good food
the wearing of the green
An Irish patriotic and revolutionary song, dating from 1798. Green (cp. EMERALD ISLE) was the emblematic colour adopted by Irish Nationalists.
the web of life
The destiny of an individual from the cradle to the grave. The allusion is to the three Fates who, according to Roman mythology, spin the thread of life, the pattern being the events which are to occur.
The Web of Penelope
A work "never ending, still beginning"; never done, but ever in hand. Penelope, according to Homer, was pestered by suitors at Ithaca while Ulysses was absent at the siege of Troy. To relieve herself of their importunities, she promised to make a choice of one as soon as she had finished weaving a shroud for her father-in-law.
The Weeping Saint
St. Swithin (q.v.), because of the tradition of forty days' rain if it rams on July 15th.
The Western Church
The Roman Catholic Church, which, after the Great Schism m the 9th century, acknowledged the headship of the Pope,
The Western Empire
The western division of the Roman Empire having Rome as B.D.
The wheel of Fortune
Fortuna, the goddess, is represented on ancient monuments with a wheel in her hand, emblematical of her inconstancy.
the wheels fell off
Something failed or fell apart completely
The Whetstone of Witte
A famous treatise on algebra (1556) by Robert Recqrde. The old name for algebra was the "Cossic Art,*' and Cos ingenii rendered into English is "the Whetstone of Wit." In Scott's Fortunes of Nigel the maid told the belated traveller that her master had "no other books but her young mistress's Bible . . . and her master's Whetstone of Witte, by Robert Recorde.
The Whig Bible
Another name for the "Place-makers' Bible"
The White Brethren
A sect of Catholic reformers that appeared early in the 15th century. Mosheim says (Bk. ii, p. 2, ch. v) a certain priest came from the Alps with an immense concourse of followers, all dressed in white linen. They marched through several provinces, following a cross borne by their leader. Boniface X ordered their leader to be burnt, and the multitude dispersed.
The White Cockade
The badge worn by the followers of Charles Edward, the Young Pretender.
The White Company
A band of French cut-throats organized by Bertrand du Guesclin m 1366, and led against Pedro the Cruel; so called because they wore a white cross on the shoulder. The name had previously (13th cent.) been given to a gang of assassins led by Folquet, the villainous Bishop of Toulouse, who massacred all suspected of heresy.
The white edging of St
George's cross shows the white field. In the saltire the cross is reversed on each side, showing that the other half of the cross is covered over. The broad white band is the St. Andrew's cross and should be uppermost at the top left-hand corner of the flag. The narrow white edge is the white field of St. Patrick's cross.
The White Hart
The cognizance of Richard II; the White Lion, of Edward IV as Earl of March; the White Swan, of Henry IV and Edward HI.
The White Horse
The standard of the ancient Saxons; hence the emblem of Kent.
The White Merle
A white fairy bird of old Basque folklore, whose singing would restore sight to the blind.
The White Queen
Mary Queen of Scots; so called because she dressed in white mourning for her French husband (Francis II 1544-60).
The White Rose
The House of York, whose emblem it was (see under ROSE).
The White Tsar
An epithet of the former Tsars of Russia, as Tsars of Muscovy; the King of Muscovy was called the White King from the robes which he wore. The King of Poland was called the Black King.
the whole art of thieving
And Defrauding Discovered: being a Caution to all Housekeepers, Shopkeepers, Salesmen, and others, to guard against Robbers of both Sexes, and the best Methods to prevent their Villanies; to which is added an Explanation of most of the Cant terms in the Thieving Language, 8vo, pp. 46. 1786.
the whole of the sum named
Cool, in this case, is merely an emphatic; it may have originally had reference to the calmness and deliberation with which the sum was counted out and the total made up.
the whole world and his dog
Everyone is there or involved
The whore of Babylon
An epithet bestowed on the Roman Catholic Church by the early Puritans and some of their descendants. The allusion is to Rev. xvn-xix. (Cp. SCARLET WOMAN.) In the book of the Revelation Babylon stands for Rome, the capital of the world, the embodiment of luxury, vice, splen- dour, tyranny, and all that the early Church knew was against the spirit of Christ.
The Wicked Bible
So called because the word not is omitted in the seventh command- ment, making it, "Thou shalt commit adultery." Printed at London by Barker and Lucas, 1632. The "Unrighteous Bible" (g.v.) is also sometimes called by this name.
The Widow at Windsor
The name applied to Queen Victoria by Rudyard Kipling m his Barrack Room Ballad of that name.
the widow's cruse
A small supply of any- thing which, by good management, is made to go a long way and to be apparently in- exhaustible. In allusion to the miracle of the cruse of oil m 2 Kings iv.
The Wife-hater Bible
An 1810 edition of the Bible gives Luke xiv, 26 as "If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother . . yea, and his own wife also" instead of "life.
the wild huntsman
A spectral hunter of mediaeval legend who, with a pack of spectral dogs, frequents certain forests and occasion- ally appears to mortals. One account has it that he was a Jew who would not suffer Jesus to drink out of a horse-trough, but pointed to some water in a hoof-print as good enough for "such an enemy of Moses.
The William pear
Properly the William's pear, or Bon Chretien is so called from the name of its introducer into England. For a like reason it is known in the U.S.A.
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