Allusion a Day

1. Allusion a Day

2. Allusion a Day – Day 1 • Write down what you know about the term: Achilles’ Heel -Mythology

3. Achilles’ Heel • This term comes from Greek Mythology. • According to myth, when Achilles was a baby, his mother dipped him in the River Styx because the waters from this river gave immortality to humans. His mother held him by his heel, so that was the only place on his body not touched by the water. • From them on, Achilles’ heel was his one area of vulnerability. Eventually, Achilles was killed during the Trojan War when a poisoned arrow struck his heel.

4. Achilles’ Heel • Today, the term has come to refer to a person’s area of particular vulnerability. • Examples: Her inability to resist rich desserts was her Achilles’ heel, keeping her from losing the ten pounds she wanted to lose. • The politician’s desire to be liked by everyone was his Achilles’ heel, preventing him from taking a strong stand on any issue and leading to his eventual defeat in the elections.

5. Allusion a Day – Day 2 • Write a sentence using the term: • Achilles’ heel • Write what you know about the term: Pound of Flesh -Literature

6. Allusion a DayPound of Flesh • This phrase comes from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. In this play, Shylock, a moneylender, agrees to finance a fleet of ships for a young merchant, Antonio. In the contract, Shylock demands a pound of flesh as payment should anything happen to the ships. • When the ships are lost at sea, Shylock insists that he must have a pound of flesh as the contract demanded.

7. Pound of Flesh • Antonio is spared only because of a technicality: the contract did not say Shylock was entitled to any of Antonio’s blood. Thus, he cannot take a pound of Antonio’s flesh unless he can do so bloodlessly, an impossibility.

8. Pound of Flesh • This phrase is used to describe someone’s insistence on being repaid, even if the repayment will destroy or harm the debtor. Examples: Sure, that initial low rate for a credit card is tempting, but the credit card company will want their pound of flesh when you get over your head in debt.

9. Allusion a Day – Day 3 • Write a sentence using the phrase, a pound of flesh. • Write what you know about: Sacred Cow -Language and Idioms

10. Sacred Cow In Hinduism, cows are considered to be sacred; thus, cows are not to be harmed, and certainly not killed for food. If a cow wanders into a shop, the merchant can only try to lure it out with food; he is not allowed to interfere with it by prodding or poking, even if it is breaking everything in his shop.

11. Sacred Cow • The idiom “Sacred Cow” refers to something that cannot be interfered with or harmed in any way—even if not interfering could be seen as harmful in some way. • Ex: Although the square dancing club only has two members, it is Mr. Philon’s sacred cow. He refuses to cancel the club. • Ex: Even though the company was almost broke, employees knew not to suggest cancelling the company picnic. It was the chairman of the board’s sacred cow.

12. Allusion a Day – Day 4 • Write what you know about: • Crossing the Rubicon • - History, Culture and Ideas

13. Crossing the Rubicon • After defeating the Gauls in the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar was ordered home by his enemies in the Senate, so he traveled south toward Italy. The Rubicon was the river forming the northern boundary of Italy. • By Roman law, a general was forbidden from crossing into Italy with an army. Nevertheless, Caesar led his army across the river, making civil war inevitable. After Caesar crossed the Rubicon, there was no turning back for him and his troops.

14. Crossing the Rubicon • To cross the Rubicon is to take an irreversible step, often involving some danger. • Example: When I told my boss exactly what I thought of her, I knew I had crossed the Rubicon and would soon be seeking employment elsewhere.

15. Allusion a Day – Day 5 • Write what you know about: Pearls before Swine - The Bible

16. Pearls before Swine • In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus admonished his followers to “cast not your pearls before swine.” • That is, his followers were to deliver their message to those who would appreciate it, not to those incapable of appreciating something of value. Swine, or pigs, would be unable to appreciate pearls if the jewels were given to them.

17. Pearls before Swine • To “cast one’s pearls before swine” is to offer something precious to someone, or a group of people, unable to appreciate the value of what they are being given. • Example: When he makes a profound point that we students just do not understand, our teacher sometimes shakes his head and mutters, “Pearls before swine.”

18. Allusion a Day – Day 6 • Write what you know about: Once in a Blue Moon - Literature and Idioms

19. Once in a Blue Moon • A “blue moon” is a second full moon within the same calendar month, a phenomenon that occurs approximately every three years. • It is thought that calendar makers traditionally pictured the first full moon in red and a second full moon in the same month in blue.

20. Once in a Blue Moon • This phrase describes something that occurs very rarely. • Example: I almost always turn in my homework on time, but once in a blue moon I get lazy and decide to take the consequences of skipping an assignment.

21. Allusion a Day – Day 7 • What do you know about: Mrs. Grundy - Literature

22. Mrs. Grundy • In Speed the Plough, a 1798 play by Thomas Morton, Mrs. Grundy is a character who never appears on stage. • However, other characters frequently ask, “What would Mrs. Grundy say?” Mrs. Grundy is a narrow-minded, conventional, prudish person.

23. Mrs. Grundy • The word “Grundyism” and the phrase “Mrs. Grundy” refer to suchan attitude of narrow-minded prudishness. • Example My mother said, “At the risk of being a Mrs. Grundy, I really don’t think you should go out in public in that outfit.”

24. Allusion a Day -- Day 8 • What do you know about: Crocodile Tears - Language and Idioms

25. Crocodile Tears • Crocodiles were once thought to shed large tears before devouring their prey. • This belief, which dates to ancient times, comes from the fact that crocodiles have small ducts in the corner of their eyes which release “tears” when the crocodile opens its jaws wide. • Obviously, a cold-blooded reptile has no real feelings of sympathy for its prey.

26. Crocodile Tears • Thus, to shed crocodile tears is to show false sympathy for someone. • Example: Although Judy shed crocodile tears for Maria when Maria was passed over for the promotion, it was apparent that Maria’s loss was seen by Judy as an opportunity to advance her own position in the company.

27. Allusion a Day – Day 9 • What do you know about: Sirens - Myth and Legends

28. Sirens • In Greek mythology, Sirens were sea creatures who lured sailors to their deaths on the rocky shores by singing a beautiful, irresistible song. They are usually depicted as women, or as half-woman, half-bird.

29. Sirens • In modern usage, “sirens” can refer to anything that tempts a person away from safety and toward a destructive path. A “siren song” is the temptation used to lure a person. • Example: In his Speech in the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry urged his listeners not to be fooled by an “illusion of hope,” saying, “We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts.” He is comparing false hope to the sirens and to Circe, who turned Odysseus’ men into swine.

30. Allusion a Day – Day 10 Write what you know about: Read the Riot Act - History, Culture, Ideas

31. Read the Riot Act • Under English Common Law, an unruly crowd had to be read the Riot Act before action could be taken, to force them to disperse. • To “read the riot act” is to issue a stern warning that if unacceptable behavior does not cease, severe consequences will follow.

32. Read the Riot Act • Ex: After asking us to be quiet several times, my father stormed upstairs and read us the riot act. After this, we knew it was time to go to sleep. • Ex: Upset over his colleagues’ refusal to take action, the senator read the riot act to the assembly, reminding them that their inaction would likely cost their party the next election.

33. Allusion a Day – Day 11 • Thirty Pieces of Silver/Betrayed With a Kiss - Bible

34. Thirty Pieces of Silver/Betrayed With a Kiss • In the Bible, Judas Iscariot was the disciple who agreed to betray Jesus to the authorities in exchange for payment. The thirty pieces of silver were the price of Judas’s betrayal. • The way Judas identified Jesus for the authorities was to approach and greet him with a kiss of identification. • “Thirty pieces of silver” refers to payment received for an act of treachery.

35. Thirty Pieces of Silver/Betrayed With a Kiss • “Betrayed with a kiss” refers to a supposed friend’s treachery. • Ex: Patrick Henry warned his listeners about the supposed friendliness of the British. He warned, “Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss.” • Ex: When the senator abruptly changed his vote to support the wealthy developer’s project, some of his colleagues muttered that he would probably receive his thirty pieces of silver from the developer.

36. Allusion a Day – Day 12 • Write what you know about: Gordian Knot

37. Gordian Knot • According to legend, Gordius was a Greek king. He tied an extremely complex knot, and an oracle prophesied that whoever untied it would rule all of Asia. • Alexander the Great “untied” the knotsimply by cutting through it with a sword.

38. Gordian Knot • A “Gordian Knot” is any extremely complex problem, and “cutting the Gordian Knot” refers to solving such a problem in a quick decisive manner. • Ex: Each year the school counselors face the Gordian knot of scheduling classes. • Ex: The councilwoman cut the Gordian knot so that two worthy programs would not have to be cut. Cutting both programs budgets prevented from having to eliminate one or the other.

39. Allusion a Day – Day 13 • What do you know about: All That Glitters is not Gold - Language and Idioms

40. All That Glitters is not Gold • This is a proverb derived from a Latin translation of Aristotle. The proverb read, “Do not hold as gold all that shines as gold.” • In other words, just because something looks like gold, one should not assume that it actually is gold.

41. All That Glitters is not Gold • The message of the proverb is that something which appears valuable on the outside, may in fact be less than valuable. Appearances can be deceptive. • Example When I expressed envy for the superstar who seemed to have everything, my friend simply said, “Remember, all that glitters…”

42. Allusion a Day – Day 14 • What do you know about Ivory Tower - Language and Idioms

43. Ivory Tower • A French poet, Alfred de Vigny, was said to have shut himself in an ivory tower so that he could composehis poems. Furthermore “ivory towers” are mentioned in various 18th-century fairy tales. The term thus refers to a beautiful, unreachable place. It has come to have negative connotationsof being out of touch with reality.

44. Ivory Tower • A person who is secluded or protected from the real worldand thus out of touch with realityis said to be residing in an “ivory tower.” • Example The engineers feared that the leaders of the company, sitting in their ivory tower, did not understand why the people in the field needed increased resources to insure the new bridge truly would be safe.

45. Allusion a Day – Day 15 • What do you know about: Sound and Fury - Literature

46. Sound and Fury In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, when Macbeth is informed that his wife has died, he speaks of the inevitability of death: Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

47. Sound and Fury • The phrase “sound and fury” refers to a great, tumultuous, and passionate uproarthat actually is unimportant or meaningless. Example The “Y2K” hysteria leading up to the turn of the millennium turned out to be just so much sound and fury.

48. Allusion a Day – Day 16 • What do you know about Icarus/Fly too Close to the Sun - Mythology and Legend

49. Icarus/Fly too Close to the Sun • In Greek mythology, Icarus and his father, Daedalus, escaped from the island of Crete by means of wings constructed by Daedalus. • The wings were held on by means of wax, and although Daedalus had warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun; Icarus did not heed the warning; the wax melted, and he fell to his death in the Aegean Sea.

50. Icarus/Fly too Close to the Sun • To be “an Icarus” or to “fly too close to the sun” is to fail or be destroyed because of lack of caution or excessive ambition. • Example: In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist, Montag, is finally turned in to the authorities for daring to keep books in his house. Beatty, the antagonist, comments: “’Well,’ said Beatty, ‘now you did it. Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he’s burnt his …wings, he wonders why.;”