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

tales collected by the German folklorists and writers
Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm
Grimm (1786–1859), known as the Brothers
Grimm. First published in 1812–15, the stories
became the staple fare of nurseries throughout
the Western world, despite the often terrifying
witches, beasts, and giants depicted in them. <strong>The</strong>
sight that met her eyes as she opened the door was like
something out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Grim Reaper Death. Since medieval times, death
has been personifi ed as a terrifying skeletal fi gure
in a black hooded cloak, carry ing a scythe with
which to “reap” men’s lives. “Unfortunately, their
penchant for the invention of bizarre new ways to
tempt the grim reaper has fi ltered down to us, the
lower orders, and we now follow their example”
(Muriel Gray, <strong>The</strong> First Fifty, 1991).
grin like a Cheshire Cat See cheshire cat.
Griselda (grizeldb) <strong>The</strong> ideal of a patient,
uncomplaining wife. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the heroine
called Griselda (or Patient Griselda) who
features in the fi nal tale of the Decameron (1351–
53) by the Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio
(1313–75) and also in “<strong>The</strong> Clerk’s Tale” from <strong>The</strong>
Canterbury Tales (c. 1387) by the En glish poet Geoffrey
Chaucer (c. 1343–1400). Griselda is depicted
as the wife of a rich nobleman, who tests her faithfulness
to him by pretending that he has killed
their children and is preparing to marry another
woman: she patiently remains true to her vows
and is ultimately rewarded when her husband
admits his deception. If he thinks he has married a
Griselda who will put up with his infi delities, he will
soon discover that he is sorely mistaken.
Groucho Marx See marx brothers.
groundhog day <strong>The</strong> sensation of having to live
through the same events over and over again. <strong>The</strong>
allusion is to the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, which
stars Bill Murray as a tele vi sion weather presenter
who fi nds himself having to relive the same day
seemingly endlessly. <strong>The</strong> day in question is February
2, known as Groundhog Day, when according
to tradition the groundhog emerges from its winter
burrow to test whether spring has arrived: if
the creature returns to its burrow this is read as a
sign that winter will continue for another six
weeks. It was like groundhog day, with the same food
and the same people and the same conversations being
repeated every lunchtime.
groves of academe (akbdeem, akbdeem) Academic
circles in general or a college, university,
or other place of study or research. Academe
was the name of a public garden (with a grove)
in Athens, in which the Greek phi los o pher Plato
gave lessons. <strong>The</strong> garden itself had formerly been
owned by a citizen of the city called Academus.
It seemed unlikely that the inspector, a diamond of the
roughest kind, would be familiar with the rules of
etiquette that governed this par tic u lar grove of
academe.
Grub Street Writing that is inferior in style and
content. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to a former London street
that in the 18th century was home to numerous
impoverished “hack” writers seeking to make a
precarious living from writing any kind of work
that might sell a few copies. <strong>The</strong> expression was
used in this sense by the lexicographer Samuel
Johnson in his famous Dictionary of the En glish Language
(1747–55) and by the writer George Gissing
in the title of his novel New Grub Street (1891).
“But, oh, dear me! oh, Osiris, Termagaunt, and
Zeus! to think there are at least a dozen other
Grub Street
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