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A Gerrymandered Job The noun “job” originally meant a patched piece of work, a temporary repair. In civic affairs it has come to mean an undertaking ostensibly in the public interest but really for one’s own prom. This detestable conduct is called “job-berry,” A “gerrymandered” and a “jerrybuilder” are closely-related tunes. Both are dangerous to social well-being, for they always act selfishly, even recklessly. Since time began, there have been building-contractors...
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June 14, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), LanguagesNo Comment
Play Havoc “That bold and skeptical spirit which cried havoc to the prejudices and superstitions of men.” –Buckle: Hitt of Civilization. Our modern use of the word “havoc” is in the phrase “play havoc,” or “make havoc,” by which we mean that one is engaged in ruthless destruction of a thing, generally in a figurative sense, as an iconoclast will destroy all sorts of religious beliefs and political systems. The word...
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June 14, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), LanguagesNo Comment
A Skeleton in The Cupboard “There is a skeleton in every home.” -WILLIAM MAKEPEACE TRACEERAY (1845). There are certain secrets which, though they are a source of constant anxiety to their keepers, are so intimate that they must never be disclosed. Such secrets are known as “skeletons in the cupboard.” A skeleton is a gruesome thing and is an object of the greatest fear to most mortals. A doctor, being constantly...
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June 10, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), Languages1 Comment
Who Sups With The Devil Must Have A Long Spoon Therefor behoveth him a ful long spone That schal ete with a fend. -CHAUCER : Canterbury Tales (“The Squire’s Tale”) (1388). Joseph Chamberlain may have been the first to use the phrase in this form, when referring to Czarist Russia (see page 10). Its meaning is that it is vitally necessary, when one has dealings with evilly-disposed persons, to be wide...
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June 10, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), LanguagesNo Comment
A Sisyphean Task With many a weary step and many a groan, Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone; The huge round, stone returning with a bound, Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground. -HOMER: Odyssey (Pope’s translation). The phrase “a Sisyphean task” is generally intended to signify an almost fruitless effort, to make which requires an almost superhuman ordeal. Sydney Smith once said of a man...
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June 10, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), LanguagesNo Comment
Cut the Painter “I’ll cut your painter for you; that is, cut you off.” —GROSE: Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) Nautical usage is responsible for this phrase, the metaphorical meaning of which is: to cut oneself, or be cut, away from an embarrassing attachment ; to be released from an undesirable alliance. A sailor fastens his boat by a rope fixed to the bow, which he calls a “painter.” At...
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June 10, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), LanguagesNo Comment
Tweedledum And Tweedledee “If there is any difference between them, it is the difference between Tweedledum and Tweedledee”: which means no perceptible difference at all or so trifling as to be worthless. “Tweedledum” and “Tweedledee” are words which, at one time, were used to indicate the difference in pound between a high-pitched musical instrument and a low-pitched one. Hence to tweedle is to strum the strings of a fiddle, or to...
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June 10, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), LanguagesNo Comment
Grasp the Nettle Tenderhearted stroke a nettle And it stings you for your plans; Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains. —Verse written on a window in Scotland. The idiomatic meaning of the phrase “to grasp the nettle” is to act in given circumstances with courageous determination. This caption, from an old German proverb, “Though you stroke the nettle ever so kindly, it will...
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June 10, 2020 evirtualguru_ajaygourEnglish (Sr. Secondary), LanguagesNo Comment