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

damsel in distress
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request to be allowed to go home to settle his
affairs on condition that he fi nd someone willing
to take his place if he did not return by the due
date. Damon immediately volunteered to take his
friend’s place, and Pythias set off for home. When
Pythias was delayed on his return, it seemed
Damon would have to be executed in his stead,
but at the last moment Pythias rushed back to save
his friend’s life. Dionysius was deeply moved by
the pair’s willingness to sacrifi ce themselves for
each other and, having pardoned Pythias, asked to
be allowed to participate in their friendship. “Papa,
I am really longing to see the Pythias to your
Damon. You know, I never saw him but once, and
then we were so puzzled to know what to say to
each other that we did not get on particularly well”
(Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, 1854–55). See
also david and jonathan.
damsel in distress A female in apparent need of
assistance. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the archetypal story
of a fairy- tale heroine being rescued from danger
by her hero- lover, typically in the form of a
knight in shining armor. <strong>The</strong> word damsel
itself comes from the Old French damoisele, which
described the feminine equivalent of a damoisel
(squire). “I’ve never met Sir Brian or Sir Oliver
and have only met Sir Bernard a few times, but I
instinctively feel that all six would lay down their
lives without hesitation for a damsel in distress”
(Marti Caine, A Coward’s Chronicles, 1990).
dance of death See danse macabre.
Dan Dare Archetype of a dashing male hero, especially
one connected with space fl ight. <strong>The</strong> original
Dan Dare was the hero of a long- running boys’
comic book series created by Frank Hampson,
which began in 1950 and fi nally ended in 1967. As a
col o nel in the Interplanetary Space Fleet, Dan Dare
battled the Mekon and other formidable foes on
Venus and elsewhere. In modern usage, the name
tends to be applied facetiously. He was a bit of a Dan
Dare in his youth, but you wouldn’t think it to look at
him now.
danegeld (dayngeld) Payment made to ward off
a threat of some kind. <strong>The</strong> word was coined in the
10th century to describe the payments made by
the En glish on the orders of their king, Ethelred II
(978–1016), to appease the Danes, who otherwise
threatened to extend their settlements in En gland.
In the event, the policy failed to work, and Ethelred
was forced to fl ee the country in 1013.
Danegeld continued to be collected under Canute
and subsequent kings even though the threat from
the Danes no longer existed. <strong>The</strong> shop keep ers carried
on paying danegeld to the mafi a for de cades before
plucking up the courage to put up some re sis tance.
dangerous age, a A time in life when a person is
deemed particularly susceptible to various temptations
or otherwise likely to behave unpredictably.
<strong>The</strong> phrase is associated chiefl y with the age
of 40, although it may be equally validly applied
to any other period in a person’s life, as illustrated
by the title of the 1967 Dudley Moore fi lm
Thirty is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia, which did much
to pop u lar ize a saying that was already fairly well
known. <strong>The</strong> ultimate source may be a book entitled
Den farlige alder (“<strong>The</strong> Dangerous Age”) by
the Danish writer Karin Michaelis, published in
1910. “Thirteen is a dangerous age: nothing is
more subtle. <strong>The</strong> boy, inspired to play the man, is
beset by his own relapses into childhood, and
Hedrick was near a relapse” (Booth Tarkington,
<strong>The</strong> Flirt, 1912). See also life begins at forty;
seven- year itch.