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

where two or three are gathered together
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where two or three are gathered together Wherever
people meet in small groups. <strong>The</strong> phrase is
biblical in origin, coming from Matthew 18:20, in
which Christ reassures his followers that wherever
they meet, he himself will be with them: “For
where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there am I in the midst of them.” <strong>The</strong> expression
is particularly associated with religious gatherings
but is sometimes used in a more general sense
for small gatherings of any kind. “Very singular to
look into it: how a kind of order rises up in all conditions
of human existence; and wherever two or
three are gathered together, there are formed
modes of existing together, habitudes, observances,
nay gracefulnesses, joys!” (Thomas Carlyle, History
of the French Revolution, 1837).
whiff of grapeshot A taste of battle or a show of
force. <strong>The</strong> expression is particularly associated with
the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1795
and Thomas Carlyle’s description of how the
young napoleon successfully suppressed a mob
of his opponents on the streets of Paris. Napoleon
was an artillery offi cer by training and packed his
cannon with grapeshot, which comprised masses
of cast- iron balls that spray outward when fi red.
It’s funny how a whiff of grapeshot can make a man
change his mind about things.
whip the offending Adam To punish someone for
his or her sins in order to improve the future character.
<strong>The</strong> reference is to Adam as the fi rst man to
disobey God and to fall into sin (Genesis 3). <strong>The</strong>
use of Adam’s name as a synonym for sin is also
encountered in the expression the old Adam,
describing sin in general terms. “Consideration,
like an angel, came / And whipped the offending
Adam out of him” (William Shakespeare, Henry V,
1599).
Whistler’s Mother A severe- looking woman.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to the painting Arrangement in Grey
and Black, No. 1: <strong>The</strong> Artist’s Mother (1871–72) by
the U.S. artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–
1903). <strong>The</strong> model for the painting was Whistler’s
own mother, though his main preoccupation was
the use of color and the arrangement of shapes
within the painting rather than the subject itself.
<strong>The</strong> story goes that his mother offered to help
after the artist’s regular sitter did not turn up;
also, that Whistler originally intended to have his
model standing, but allowed his mother to be
seated as she found standing for long periods
uncomfortable. She had absolutely no sense of humor
and sat through the whole show poker- faced, like
Whistler’s Mother.
white as snow See sins be as scarlet.
whited sepulchre (sepblker) Someone or something
that appears dignifi ed and perfect from the
outside but is actually corrupt within. <strong>The</strong> image is
biblical in origin, coming from Matthew 23:27, in
which Christ likens the Pharisees to the whitewashed
tombs (made of stone or otherwise set in
caves) of the dead: “Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited
sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men’s bones, and
of all uncleanness.” In the time of Christ, Jewish
tombs were usually painted white in order to discourage
the living from accidentally touching and
thus defi ling them. “Surely it is high time that the
whited sepulchre of the BBC is acquainted with
the reality that licence fees can be withheld” (Daily
Telegraph, September 17, 2001).
Whitehall <strong>The</strong> British government. Whitehall is
the name of a busy London road close to the