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

Betty Grable
50
person. This proverbial advice is of biblical origin,
a quotation of Paul (himself a bachelor), as recorded
in 1 Corinthians 7:8–9: “I say therefore to the
unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they
abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let
them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
“ ‘It is better to marry than to burn,’ says St. Paul,
where we may see what it is that chiefl y drives
men into the enjoyments of a conjugal life” ( John
Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding,
1690).
Betty Grable (graybbl) A person who resembles
in some way the U.S. fi lm actress Betty Grable
(1916–73). Comparisons to Betty Grable are usually
in relation to her famous legs, which featured
prominently in pin- ups of the star printed during
World War II and which were supposedly insured
for one million dollars. <strong>The</strong>y might also, however,
relate to her distinctive piled- up hairdo. Her mother
sported a Betty Grable hairdo of the sort that was considered
extremely stylish in her youth.
between Scylla and Charybdis (silb, kbribdis)
Having to confront one or the other of two
equally dangerous hazards. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to
Greek mythology and the Strait of Messina. Scylla
aroused the jealousy of the goddess Amphitrite by
attracting the amorous attentions of Amphitrite’s
husband, Poseidon. Transformed by Amphitrite
into a monster with six dogs’ heads, each with
three rows of teeth, Scylla made her home in a
cave in the Strait of Messina directly opposite the
abode of the equally horrifi c Charybdis, who was
the daughter of Poseidon and Gaea and had been
turned into a monster by Zeus. Any vessel that
passed between the two was likely to be attacked
and the sailors devoured; the more they tried to
evade one threat, the more likely they were to fall
prey to the other. In more prosaic terms, Scylla
was identifi ed as a vast promontory of rock, while
Charybdis was described as a whirl pool. Louis
considered which woman to choose, feeling himself
caught like a hapless seaman between Scylla and
Charybdis.
Beulah See land of beulah.
Beulah, peel me a grape (byoolb) Ironic expression
of satisfaction at being pampered. This is a
quotation from the movie I’m No Angel (1933), in
which it is delivered by mae west to her black
maid, thus blithely dismissing speculation that she
might be upset after her lover has stormed out on
her. “Beulah, peel me a grape!” he whooped as he threw
himself onto the couch.
beware of Greeks bearing gifts Do not trust gifts
or favors if they come from an enemy. This advice
has its roots in the story of the trojan horse, the
treacherous subterfuge by which the Greeks fi nally
overcame their Trojan adversaries at the end of the
Trojan War. It is occasionally encountered in its
Latin form timeo Danaos et dona ferentes
(meaning “I fear the Greeks, even when they offer
gifts”). This offer of the Demo crats looks suspicious to
their opponents, a case of “beware of Greeks bearing
gifts.”
beyond the pale Beyond the bounds of reasonable
behavior or acceptability. <strong>The</strong> Pale was the
name given to that part of Ireland over which the
En glish exercised control during the medieval
period. Thus, anything that lay outside that area
was considered beyond the limits of contemporary
civilization. <strong>The</strong> word “pale” itself means
“stake,” and refers to the palisades made of such
stakes used to fence off par tic u lar areas. <strong>The</strong> way he