King Charles's head
Preserved but no longer current.
A phrase applied to an obsession, a fixed fancy. It comes from Mr. Dick, the harmless half-wit in David Copper- field^ who, whatever he wrote or said always got round to the subject of King Charles's head, about which he was composing a memorial — he could not keep it out of his thoughts.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “King Charles's head” mean?
A phrase applied to an obsession, a fixed fancy. It comes from Mr. Dick, the harmless half-wit in David Copper- field^ who, whatever he wrote or said always got round to the subject of King Charles's head, about which he was composing a memorial — he could not keep it out of his thoughts.
Is “King Charles's head” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.