The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

of fi re over his decision to withdraw and re- draft
the latest rules on council spending” (Guardian,
January 14, 1983).
Barabbas (Bbrabbas) A criminal who evades
punishment for his crimes. According to Matthew
27:16 and John 18:40, Barabbas was a thief condemned
to be crucifi ed at Passover time. At the
public crucifi xion, the mob was, by long- established
custom, offered the choice of one of the men to be
pardoned; the group chose Barabbas. He is variously
described in the books of Luke and Mark as
a seditionist or murderer. Jocularly he is sometimes
thought of as a publisher, an identifi cation
attributed to the En glish poet Lord Byron. <strong>The</strong>
story goes that Byron was presented with a beautiful
edition of the Bible by his publisher John Murray,
but the poet returned the gift after having
changed the word robber (“Now Barabbas was a
robber,” John 18:40) to publisher. Like some latterday
Barabbas, he had successfully hoodwinked the courts
and spent much of his adult life enjoying moneyed freedom
in the Seychelles.
Barathron (bbrathrbn) A place where garbage is
dumped. <strong>The</strong> original Barathron, or Barathrum,
was a deep ditch behind the Acropolis in Athens
into which criminals were thrown to their death.
<strong>The</strong> alley was a veritable Barathron, full of all description
of trash.
Barbara Cartland (bahrbbrb kahrtlbnd) <strong>The</strong>
embodiment of romantic fi ction. <strong>The</strong> British novelist
Barbara Cartland (1901–2000) became the
world’s best- selling author in the world by virtue
of the hundreds of light romantic stories that she
produced over a long writing career. Derided by
critics, she strongly defended her role as a champion
of old- fashioned romance. With the softest of
furnishings and everything in pastel shades it was all
very Barbara Cartland.
barbarian A brutish, uncivilized person. <strong>The</strong> term
was coined by the ancient Greeks, who called anyone
who could not speak Greek barbaros (because
the unintelligible Germanic dialects of many such
people sounded like “bar- bar- bar” to the Greek ear).
In due course the term came to be applied to the
cultures of such foreign peoples in general. “. . . a
silly, painful, and disgusting ceremony, which can
only be considered as a relic of barbarian darkness,
which tears the knees and shins to pieces, let alone
the pantaloons” (William Makepeace Thackeray,
Adventures of Major Gahagan, 1839).
Barbie An attractive but superfi cial female, typically
one with blonde hair and an overly sweet
manner. <strong>The</strong> original Barbie (whose full name was
Barbara Millicent Roberts) was a child’s doll fi rst
marketed under the Barbie tradename by the Mattel
Toy Company in 1959. Dressed like a trendy
teenaged girl of the late 1950s, Barbie (and her
wardrobe) kept pace with the times, becoming
a widely recognized cultural and fashion icon,
though also a target of outraged feminists. She
even acquired a boyfriend called Ken. Her name
was borrowed from Barbara (or ‘Barbie’) Handler,
who as a young girl on holiday with her parents
Ruth and Elliot Handler, the cofound ers of Mattel,
took a liking to a doll (named Lilli) that she spotted
in a Lucerne shop window. She bought the
doll, which became the prototype for Barbie. Ken,
when he appeared, was named after Barbara’s
brother. Some people call Britney Spears a real Barbie,
but I think she’s cool.
Bardolph (bahrdolf ) A coarse, swaggering drunkard,
especially one with a drinker’s red nose. <strong>The</strong>
Bardolph
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