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

many countries, enabling them to ingratiate themselves
with the voting public by giving the appearance
of speaking personally, even confi dentially,
with the listeners or viewers. Tony Blair surpassed
preceding prime ministers with his mastery of the soundbite
and the fi reside chat.
fi re that is not quenched See worm that dieth
not.
fi rst among equals A person who provides leadership
for a group without being considered in any
way superior to other members of it. Originally
familiar in its Latin form primus inter pares, it was
particularly associated with the knights of the
round table in Arthurian legend, among whom
king arthur himself sat as an equal. <strong>The</strong> title has
sometimes been applied to the leading fi gures of
Western democracies, such as the prime minister
of the United Kingdom and the president of the
United States. “At its best, the teaching situation
takes on much of the character of the research process,
with an open dialogue between the students
and teacher, the teacher being the fi rst among
equals” (Ronald Barnett, <strong>The</strong> Idea of Higher Education,
1990).
fi rst base, get to See get to fi rst base.
fi rst catch your hare <strong>The</strong>re is a diffi cult but
essential fi rst step to perform, or obstacle to overcome,
before you can achieve your ultimate objective.
Most people mistakenly believe this to be a
piece of wisdom extracted from Mrs. Beeton’s
Book of House hold Management (1851), but in fact it
comes from a recipe described in <strong>The</strong> Art of Cookery
Made Plain and Easy (1747) by Mrs. Hannah Glasse:
“Take your hare when it is cased” (“cased” meaning
“skinned”). In fact, similar sentiments had been
fi sher of men
expressed in variant forms for hundreds of years
before this. <strong>The</strong>se are very grand plans, but remember
that you must fi rst catch your hare.
fi rstest with the mostest <strong>The</strong> surest route to
success is to get there quickest with the greatest
force. <strong>The</strong> allusion is said to be to the military
strategy favored by the Confederate general
Nathan B. Forrest (1821–77) during the U.S. Civil
War, who allegedly advised his fellow offi cers to
git thar fustest with the mostest. If you lot want
to have hot dogs at the party to night, you will need to
get there fi rstest with the mostest.
fi rst shall be last, the Those who are apparently
least deserving shall not necessarily be the last to
be rewarded. <strong>The</strong> expression is of biblical origin,
coming from Matthew 20:16, in which Christ is
questioned about who most deserves everlasting
life and is quoted as replying, “So the last shall be
fi rst, and the fi rst last.” <strong>The</strong> old rogue winked at me as
he took his payment ahead of the captain, as if to remind
the world that sometimes the last shall be fi rst.
fi sher of men An evangelist. <strong>The</strong> phrase appears
in Matthew 4:18–20 in references to Christ’s
recruitment of the disciples: “Jesus, walking by the
sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called
Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into
the sea: for they were fi shers. And he saith unto
them, Follow me, and I will make you fi shers of
men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed
him.” <strong>The</strong> pope, considered the heir of Peter
as the chief fi sher of men, wears a fi sherman’s ring
at his investiture. This ring is used for sealing papal
briefs and is destroyed at the pope’s death. <strong>The</strong>
local populace soon tired of being berated by this offensive
fi sher of men and returned to their homes, grumbling
at his insolence.
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