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

Wise Men of Gotham
508
Wise Men of Gotham See gotham.
wise virgins See parable of the wise and foolish
virgins.
witch- hunt A systematic campaign to root out
subversive elements of one kind or another. <strong>The</strong>
allusion is to the notorious hunts for people suspected
of practicing witchcraft that were prosecuted
throughout much of Eu rope and, later, in
parts of the Colonial America from the late medieval
period until the late 17th century. <strong>The</strong> ste reotypical
targets of such campaigns were impoverished
old peasant women who had fallen out with their
neighbors, although in some regions such as Germany
the emphasis was upon accusing wealthier
members of society in the expectation of confi scating
their property for the state. Nowadays, the
term is applied freely to any concerted effort to
unearth enemies of the state, po liti cal or social
misfi ts, etc. “In the coming witch- hunt thousands
of people were to be deprived of their livelihood
and reputation but, as we now know, the most serious
spies went undetected” (Peter Lewis, <strong>The</strong> Fifties:
Portrait of a Period, 1989).
Witch of Endor (endor) Archetypal witch or
medium with supernatural powers. <strong>The</strong> reference
is to the sorceress of Endor, who (according to 1
Samuel 28:3–25) on the command of King Saul
summoned up the spirit of the prophet Samuel;
the spirit warned the king of his imminent defeat
and death in battle against the Philistines. “I merely
lit that fi re because I was dull, and thought I
would get a little excitement by calling you up
and triumphing over you as the Witch of Endor
called up Samuel. I determined you should come;
and you have come! I have shown my power”
(Thomas Hardy, <strong>The</strong> Return of the Native, 1880).
Wizard of Oz A person who is believed, however
mistakenly, to hold the solution to some problem
or other. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to L. Frank Baum’s celebrated
children’s book (1900) of the same title,
which was turned into a classic of the musical
cinema when fi lmed in 1939. Most people are
unaware that Baum wrote numerous sequels to this
fi rst book. At the end of the book it is revealed that
the wizard is no wizard at all, but an old man who
has been blown to Oz in a balloon from his home in
Omaha. People have great faith in the managing director,
but he’s not the Wizard of Oz. See also end of the
rainbow; friend of dorothy; munchkin; we’re
not in kansas anymore; wicked witch of the
west; yellow- brick road.
Woden; Wodin See odin.
woe is me Expression of self- pity at one’s own
plight. <strong>The</strong> expression appears several times in
the Bible, for example, in Isaiah 6:5, when the
prophet sees the Lord in his holiness and is then
utterly dismayed at his own sin: “<strong>The</strong>n said I, Woe
is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of hosts.” <strong>The</strong> phrase is particularly
associated with Jeremiah in the following lament:
“Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne
me a man of strife and a man of contention to the
whole earth!” ( Jeremiah 15:10). “Woe is me
when all men praise me!” (George Bernard Shaw,
Saint Joan, 1924).
woe to them that are at ease in Zion See at ease
in zion.
wolf in sheep’s clothing A person or thing that
appears to be harmless but is masking its real,