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

canary in a coal mine A sign of imminent danger.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to a former practice whereby miners
took canaries into mines to warn them of the
presence of poisonous gases, the birds being more
susceptible to the effects of such gases than the
humans, giving them time to escape if a bird died.
This decline in consumer sales could be a canary in a
coal mine warning of a loss of public confi dence in government
policy.
Canary Wharf (kbnairee worf) <strong>The</strong> fi nancial establishment
in the United Kingdom. Canary Wharf is
the name of the area surrounding the skyscraper
called Canary Wharf Tower in London’s Docklands,
which since redevelopment in the 1990s has
become home to the head offi ces of various major
fi nancial and business companies. It’s anyone’s guess
what they will make of this announcement in Canary
Wharf.
Candid Camera A situation in which unsuspecting
people are caught unawares and exposed to
humiliation or embarrassment. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to a
pop u lar long- running tele vi sion program fi rst
screened in the 1950s in which ordinary people
were secretly fi lmed in unexpected situations.
Everything was so bizarre that for a minute I thought I
was on Candid Camera.
Candide (kandeed) Ste reo type of a naive optimist.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to Candide, ou l’Optimisme
(1759), a satirical novel by Voltaire in which the
author lampoons the gullible innocence of the
central character Candide, a young man who (until
experience teaches him otherwise) bears all misfortunes
philosophically, encouraged by his tutor
Dr. Pangloss into believing that “all is for the best
in this best of all possible worlds.” Like Voltaire’s
Candide, he strove to fi nd something positive in every
disaster that befell him. See also panglossian.
candle under a bushel See hide one’s light
under a bushel.
Cannae (kanee) A disastrous defeat that brings to
an end a run of previous successes. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to
the battle of Cannae that took place in 216 b.c. during
the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage.
<strong>The</strong> Roman army had won the First Punic
War, but after the Carthaginian general Hannibal
invaded Italy, Rome was soundly defeated and suffered
heavy losses at the village of Cannae in southeastern
Italy. <strong>The</strong> Roman generals Lucius Aemilius
Paulus and Gaius Terentius Varro, who had made the
reckless decision to attack the center of the Carthaginian
force (thus allowing their enemy to encircle
them), spent the rest of their lives in disgrace,
and the name of the battle became forever associated
with catastrophic defeat. After so many years in
undisputed power, this electoral disappointment is already
being described as the party’s Cannae.
Canossa, go to See go to canossa.
Canute, King See king canute.
Caped Crusader See batman and robin.
Capone, Al See al capone.
Captain Ahab
Captain Ahab (ayhab) A person who is obsessed
to the point of madness in pursuing a par tic u lar
goal. <strong>The</strong> original Captain Ahab was the captain of
the whaling ship Pequod in Herman Melville’s 1851
novel Moby- Dick, who is determined to have his
revenge upon the white whale that cost him his leg
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