to prophesy upon velvet
Preserved but no longer current.
To prophesy what is already a known fact. Vended, War of La (la von' da). The rising of royalists against the French Republic in 1793-5 in La Vendee, a Department of western France, and Brittany. It was followed by the War of the Chouans (see CHOUAN), which was finally suppressed by Napoleon in 1800.
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 “to prophesy upon velvet” mean?
To prophesy what is already a known fact. Vended, War of La (la von' da). The rising of royalists against the French Republic in 1793-5 in La Vendee, a Department of western France, and Brittany. It was followed by the War of the Chouans (see CHOUAN), which was finally suppressed by Napoleon in 1800.
Is “to prophesy upon velvet” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.