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

Dioscorea
130
Dioscorea (dioskoreeb) A genus of plants belonging
to the yam family. It was named in honor of the
Greek physician Dioscorides Pedanius (c. a.d. 40–
c. 90), who studied a wide variety of plants in
order to gather information about their medicinal
properties while serving as a surgeon in the Roman
army. He was later recognized as one of the fathers
of modern botany. <strong>The</strong>re are probably many more
secrets to learn about Dioscorea.
Dioscuri See castor and pollux.
Dirty Harry A maverick policeman, or someone
else who employs heavy- handed or ethically dubious
tactics to achieve his or her aims. <strong>The</strong> 1971
fi lm Dirty Harry introduced the eponymous Harry
Callaghan, a self- willed San Francisco police
inspector (played by Clint Eastwood) who thought
nothing of breaking the rules in order to outwit
criminals who might otherwise escape legal retribution.
He continued to break the rules in a series
of sequels. We don’t approve of Dirty Harry tactics in
this company. See also go ahead, make my day.
disciple A follower or pupil of a religious teacher
or other leader. <strong>The</strong> word is most familiar from its
application in the Bible to the 12 apostles and to
followers of Christ more generally. “. . . the doctrine
it contain’d was by degrees universally
adopted by the phi los o phers of Eu rope, in preference
to that of the abbé; so that he lived to see
himself the last of his sect, except Monsieur B—,
of Paris, his élève and immediate disciple” (Benjamin
Franklin, Autobiography, 1793).
discord, apple of See apple of discord.
dismal science Economics. It was Thomas Carlyle
(1795–1881) who gave economics this label,
which has haunted it ever since, in his 1849 essay
“On the Nigger Question”: “<strong>The</strong> social science—
not a ‘gay science,’ but a rueful—which fi nds the
secret of this Universe in ‘supply and demand’ . . .
what we might call, by way of eminence, the dismal
science.” In coining the label, he may have
been infl uenced by contemporary economists who
held the gloomy view that population growth
would outstrip food production. If we are to believe
the purveyors of the dismal science, we are heading for
another period of recession.
Disneyfi cation (diznifi kayshbn) <strong>The</strong> trivialization
of historical fact or real places, people, etc., in
order to maximize their commercial appeal. U.S.
fi lmmaker Walt Disney (1901–66) made his reputation
with brilliant but often sentimentalized
cartoons and live- action fi lms in which the less
pleasant or controversial aspects of nature or
human existence were either ignored or made more
palatable and unchallenging. <strong>The</strong> same approach
typifi ed the various Disney resorts that his corporation
later built. Many critics have found fault with
the tendency of many commercial organizations
to indulge in similar “Disneyfi cation” of historical
truth and the realities of life. As a scholar, I deplore
the Disneyfi cation of the slave issue in early American
history.
Disneyland (dizneeland) An unreal, fantasy
world. <strong>The</strong> original Disneyland was a hugely pop ular
amusement park opened by U.S. fi lmmaker
Walt Disney (1901–66) in Anaheim, California, in
1955. Featuring many of the fi ctional characters
made famous in the Disney fi lms, Disneyland presented
a view of the world far removed from daily
reality. Its success over the de cades has spawned
many other similar parks all over the world. A
person “living in Disneyland” is someone who fails