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

yellow press <strong>The</strong> sensationalist newspapers. <strong>The</strong>
expression alludes to a fi rst attempt to introduce
color printing in the course of a circulation battle
between Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William
Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal in 1895.
An issue of the New York World included a comic
strip by Richard Outcault in which a child—“<strong>The</strong>
Yellow Kid”—appeared in a long yellow shirt.
Soon many papers were publishing comic strips
in color to attract new readers. Subsequently all
attempts by newspapers to attract a wider readership
through such gimmicks, or through the use of
sensationalist attention- grabbing headlines and so
forth, were dubbed “yellow” journalism. “When
she read about his new marriage she said, <strong>The</strong> yellow
press have caught him, poor boy” (S. Bedford,
A Compass Error, 1993).
Yoda (yodb) A wise person, especially one of
diminutive and comical appearance. Yoda is a character
in the im mensely successful star wars fi lms
of George Lucas, the fi rst of which was released in
1977. Apart from his great wisdom and his odd
appearance (his small furry fi gure being crowned
with long pointed ears), his most endearing (or
irritating) feature is his habit of juggling the usual
order of words in sentences. <strong>The</strong> professor is our very
own Yoda, telling us exactly what to do when the rest of
us are stumped.
Yossarian See catch- 22.
young Lochinvar See lochinvar.
young Turk An ambitious and capable young
man, especially one who supports radical reform
(typically in the fi eld of politics or business). <strong>The</strong>
allusion is to a po liti cal party called the Young
Turks, which attracted widespread support among
students following its foundation in Geneva in
1891 and led ultimately to the overthrowing of
Sultan Abdul Hamid in 1908 and the transformation
of Turkey into a modern Eu ro pe an state under
Mohammed V. <strong>The</strong> Young Turks remained highly
infl uential within Turkey until the end of World
War I, when the party was dissolved. “<strong>The</strong> young
Turk of theoretical physics could not have guessed
that this very point in classical optics, probed by
Wien, was to be of importance in one of the most
fundamental papers he was subsequently to write”
( J. C. Polkinghorne, <strong>The</strong> Quantum World, 1984).
your country needs you It is your patriotic duty
to serve your country. This slogan dates from World
War I, specifi cally to a British recruiting poster that
had the words “Your country needs you!” under a
portrait of the impressively mustachioed Lord
Kitchener (1850–1916), the hero of Khartoum,
pointing belligerently at the viewer. It’s time to step
up to the plate—your country needs you!
Ypres (eeprb) A bitter battle resulting in huge
numbers of casualties but little tactical gain. <strong>The</strong>
First Battle of Ypres took place in and around the
town of Ypres in Belgium from October 20 to
November 18, 1914, not long after the outbreak
of World War I. <strong>The</strong> massive number of losses on
both the Allied and German sides for virtually no
territorial advantage established a pattern that was
to be repeated time and again over the next four
years. <strong>The</strong> Second Battle of Ypres took place
between April 22 and May 25, 1915, and witnessed
the fi rst military use, by the Germans, of
chlorine gas. Ypres gave a new meaning to stalemate.
See also fl anders; passchendaele; somme, the.
Ypres
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