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

carry coals to Newcastle
80
politicians and traders who arrived from the
north with no more than a carpet traveling bag of
personal belongings. <strong>The</strong>y quickly acquired an
unenviable reputation for corruption, selfi shness,
and greed. <strong>The</strong> term has since been applied to
po liti cal candidates who have no real connection
with the area they seek to represent. Shares in the
company have been pounced on by carpetbaggers hoping
to make an easy profi t.
carry coals to Newcastle See coals to newcastle.
Carry Nation (karee) A supporter of the temperance
movement. Carry Nation (1846–1911)
became a dedicated crusader against the drinking
of alcohol after her fi rst marriage was wrecked
by her husband’s alcoholism. As leader of the
Women’s Christian Temperance Union, she campaigned
to have the illegal saloons of Kansas
closed, even wielding a hatchet herself to destroy
bars until arrested and imprisoned for destruction
of property. She stormed into the bar like Carry
Nation herself, overturning tables and scattering startled
partygoers.
carry one’s cross See bear/carry/take one’s
cross.
Carson, Kit See kit carson.
Carter, Nick See nick carter.
Cartesian (kahrteezeebn) Of or relating to the
theories of French phi los o pher and mathematician
René Descartes (1596–1650). Descartes argued
that it was possible to apply mathematical logic to
any fi eld of human knowledge, using it to satisfy
himself of the existence of the material world and
even of the existence of God. He is best remembered
for his formulation of the statement cogito
ergo sum, which is translated as “I think, therefore
I am.” “This Cartesian illusion is directly linked
with the universal belief that ‘we’ (people like us)
can be distinguished from ‘they’ (people who are
like us in external form but not like us in their
inner essence)” (Edmund Leach, Social Anthropology,
1986).
Carthaginian peace (kahrthbjineebn) A peace
treaty or other agreement that is extremely harsh
and punitive for the loser. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the
state of affairs that existed following the Punic
wars fought between Carthage and Rome. Having
suffered defeat in the First and Second Punic
Wars, Carthage lost various colonial territories,
but the North African state was still substantially
intact. <strong>The</strong> third war, however, ended with the
Romans invading the African mainland and setting
siege to Carthage itself. <strong>The</strong> city fell after
two years and was utterly devastated, never to
regain its past glory. <strong>The</strong> Carthaginian peace imposed
on Germany after World War I sowed the seed for the
growth of nationalism in that country. See also punic
faith.
Cartland, Barbara See barbara cartland.
Carton, Sydney See it is a far, far better thing
that i do.
caryatid (kareeatid) An architectural column in
the shape of a female fi gure. Such columns were a
feature of many ancient Greek temples. <strong>The</strong>y were
named after the women of Caryae in Laconia,
which had unwisely sided with the Persians against
the Greeks at the battle of <strong>The</strong>rmopylae. <strong>The</strong> victorious
Greeks subsequently ravaged Caryae and