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

Brideshead
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make bricks, insisting that they fi nd it themselves:
“And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters
of the people . . . saying, Ye shall no more
give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore:
let them go and gather straw for themselves” (Exodus
5:6–7). Bricks made with mud from the Nile
had to include straw to prevent them from cracking
as they dried. <strong>The</strong> union complained that as a result
of the cutbacks, their members were effectively being asked
to make bricks without straw.
Brideshead (bridzhed) A magnifi cent stately
home, a symbol of the high En glish aristocracy.
Brideshead is the name of the palatial home of the
lordly Flyte family in Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead
Revisited (1945). When the novel was televised
in 1981, the role of Brideshead was taken by Castle
Howard in Yorkshire. <strong>The</strong> view was all very Brideshead,
couples in eve ning dress sauntering between the follies
above the shining lake, on which the swans fl oated.
bridge too far, a A step that when taken proves to
be one too many. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to Cornelius
Ryan’s book A Bridge Too Far (1974), fi lmed in 1977,
which relates the events surrounding the disastrous
Allied advance into the Netherlands in 1944. <strong>The</strong>
phrase itself was supposedly fi rst spoken by General
Frederick Browning in response to Field Marshal
Montgomery’s plans for the capture of 11
bridges, including that at Arnhem: “But, sir, we
may be going a bridge too far.” This latest acquisition
may ultimately prove a bridge too far for the company.
brief encounter A short- lived love affair or other
relationship. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the 1945 romantic
fi lm Brief Encounter, written by Noël Coward and
directed by David Lean, which told the story of the
ill- starred and ultimately unfulfi lled romance of
a couple (played by Trevor Howard and Celia
Johnson) whose relationship blossoms during meetings
at a suburban railroad station. <strong>The</strong> real station
used for the fi lm, in the En glish town of Carnforth
in Lancashire, is a place of pilgrimage for the many
fans of the movie. We had a brief encounter a few years
ago, but haven’t seen much of each other since then.
Brigadoon (brigbdoon) Idealized vision of a
rural village, especially one that seems cut off
from the realities of everyday life. <strong>The</strong> fi ctional
Scottish village of Brigadoon is the setting for the
1947 musical of the same title, by Frederick Loewe
and Alan Jay Lerner. Possibly inspired by Brig o’
Doon in Ayrshire, the village in Brigadoon is curiously
divorced from life in the real world, being
subject to a magic spell that means it comes alive
for just one day every hundred years. “It’s a bit like
coming back to Britain and fi nding you’ve committed
yourself to living in Brigadoon” (Ann
Granger, A Season for Murder, 1991).
Brigitte Bardot (brijit bahrdo) A beautiful, sexually
alluring blonde, especially one who enjoys the
status of a sex symbol. Brigitte Bardot (b. 1934)
became an international star after appearing in such
fi lms as And God Created Woman (1956) and was one of
the most widely recognized faces of the late 1950s
and early 1960s, appearing in movies, pin- ups, and
glossy magazines. His second wife was a Brigitte Bardot
with long blonde locks and a sultry, pouting face.
brimstone and fi re See fi re and brimstone.
broad is the way See strait and narrow.
Broadway (brahdway) <strong>The</strong> U.S. pop u lar theater.
<strong>The</strong> Broadway district of New York City is
famous for its theaters, which over the years have
hosted countless musicals and other large- scale