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

Concordia
102
and Conan the Destroyer (1984), both of which
starred former bodybuilder arnold schwarzenegger
in the title role. Visiting the former heavyweight
champion was like having tea with Conan the
Barbarian.
Concordia (konkordeeb) Personifi cation of peace.
Concordia was identifi ed in Roman mythology as
the goddess of peace and harmony. <strong>The</strong> warring
parties quickly reached a compromise and for a time
Concordia reigned over the entire scene.
Connecticut Yankee (kbnetikbt) Someone or
something that is out of place and time, an anachronism.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to the novel A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) by U.S. writer
Mark Twain (1835–1910), which relates the
experiences of a Connecticut factory worker after
he is struck on the head with a crowbar and wakes
to fi nd himself transported back in time to the
court of king arthur. He enjoyed playing a Connecticut
Yankee to the people of the remote tribes he
encountered in the Amazon rainforests.
consider the lilies See lilies of the fi eld.
Contemptibles, Old See old contemptibles.
continence of Alexander See alexander the
great.
continence of a Scipio (sipeeo) Self- restraint or
moral integrity; the ability to refuse temptation.
According to Roman legend, the Roman general
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (237–183 b.c.),
who led the Roman army against the Carthaginians
during the Second Punic War, was once
offered the chance to meet a beautiful princess
whom his men had taken prisoner but declined
the opportunity on the grounds that he might be
tempted to forget his principles. To work in such
company and not be tempted to try one’s luck with one of
the ladies would require the continence of a Scipio.
cook someone’s goose To spoil someone’s
chances or plans. <strong>The</strong> allusion is allegedly to an
episode in the reign of Eric IV of Sweden, who
surprised his enemies by marching his small army
out to attack their town. His enemies expressed
their scorn at this temerity by hanging a live goose
from their battlements to provide Eric’s men with
a target. Eric responded by telling his opponents
he would cook their goose, and then set about laying
waste to the surrounding region. His enemies
soon gave in, and Eric cooked and ate their goose.
<strong>The</strong> management planned to develop a new range of
products, but their rivals cooked their goose for them.
Cook’s tour An excursion or roundabout journey,
especially one that allows for only a cursory
look at local places of interest. British missionary
Thomas Cook (1808–92) was a pioneer of the
travel industry, arranging his fi rst excursion in
1841 in order to get customers from Leicester to
Loughborough for a temperance meeting. He went
on to arrange numerous similar trips, dubbed
Cook’s tours, both within the United Kingdom
and to the continent of Eu rope. <strong>The</strong>y made a quick
Cook’s tour of the theater.
copperhead A secret enemy or traitor, especially
one who operates covertly and undetected. <strong>The</strong>
term copperhead, which fi rst appeared in this
sense in the New York Tribune on July 20, 1861,
was applied to Northerners who secretly favored the
Southern cause during the U.S. Civil War of the
1860s, although it had previously been variously
employed to describe the original Native American