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

citizens t’ th’ spot! . . . <strong>The</strong>re is th’ ‘single
whammy’! That, friend, is th’ full, pure power o’ one
o’ my evil eyes! It’s dynamite, friend, an’ I do not
t’row it around lightly! . . . And, lastly—th’
‘double whammy’—namely, th’ full power o’ both
eyes—which I hopes I never hafta use.” This
announcement of job losses is a double whammy for the
unions, who were already reeling from a loss of support
among members.
doubting Thomas (tombs) A person who remains
unconvinced about something until fi rm proof is
proffered. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the biblical Thomas,
the apostle who declined to believe in Christ’s
resurrection until allowed to see and touch Christ’s
wounds for himself: “But he said unto them,
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails,
and put my fi nger into the print of the nails, and
thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe”
(John 20:25). Christ eventually showed himself so
that Thomas might satisfy his doubts but rebuked
him for his lack of faith. His uncle remained stubbornly
unconvinced and it seemed nothing would persuade
this doubting Thomas.
do unto others See golden rule.
dove of peace A symbol of peace and reconciliation.
<strong>The</strong> association between doves and peace is
biblical in origin, arising from the story of the
dove that was sent out by Noah to see if the Flood
was receding (Genesis 8:8–12). When the dove
returned with an olive branch in its beak, Noah
interpreted this as a sign that God was reconciled
with humankind once more and that the waters
were retreating. Because the Holy Spirit descended
to Christ in the form of a dove at his baptism, the
bird may also be treated as a symbol of the Holy
Spirit, purity, or divine inspiration. <strong>The</strong> dove of
peace has settled on this land today and the sound of
gunfi re is heard no more. See also olive branch.
down for the count Out of contention, fi nally
overwhelmed. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to boxing and the
fl ooring of a fi ghter in the ring as the seconds are
counted out: he is declared the loser if he cannot
rise before ten seconds have passed. <strong>The</strong> phrase is
also commonly employed, sometimes in the variant
form out for the count, to describe someone
who has fallen asleep and is deemed unlikely to
wake up any time soon. <strong>The</strong>y got back late last night
and are still down for the count.
down the rabbit hole Into a weird or surreal situation.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland (1865), in which Alice
fi nds herself in a strange fantasy world after following
the White Rabbit into its rabbit hole. He
felt like he had fallen down the rabbit hole when he realized
just what was expected of him in his new role. See
also alice in wonderland.
draconian (drbkoneebn, draykoneebn) Excessively
harsh or severe. <strong>The</strong> word alludes to Draco,
the lawyer who in 621 b.c. drew up the fi rst written
code of justice for his fellow Athenians. <strong>The</strong>
laws imposed in Draco’s name, supposedly written
in blood rather than ink, were notorious for
their severity, with the death sentence being
imposed for even relatively petty offenses, hence
the modern use of the term draconian. In reality,
Draco’s code did not last very long, and in 590 b.c.
a less exacting code of laws was devised by the
Athenian statesman Solon. Although pop u lar in
his own time for putting the law in some kind of
order, albeit harsh, Draco himself came to a premature
end when he was smothered under the
heaps of garments and fl owers that admiring
draconian
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