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

Grundy, Mrs.
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ne’er- do- wells alive who would prefer to make a
mess of living as a grand- duke rather than as a
scribbler in Grub Street!” ( James Branch Cabell,
<strong>The</strong> Certain Hour, 1909).
Grundy, Mrs. See mrs. grundy.
Guantánamo (gwantanbmo) A high- security military
prison. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the controversial
detention center that was established in 2002 at
the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba to
house al- Qaida and Taliban suspects taken during
the so- called War against Terror declared after the
attacks of September 11, 2001 (see 9/11). Rumors
that the government is planning to build a new Guantánamo
to accommodate mafi a bosses have been discounted
by offi cial sources.
Gucci (goochee) Expensive and exclusive. Guccio
Gucci (1881–1953) was an Italian designer whose
Gucci company became one of the leading names
in international fashion, selling expensive clothing
and leather goods. <strong>The</strong> name of the company has
been used in various contexts over the years to
convey the notion of exclusivity and (sometimes)
the sacrifi ce of content to superfi cial appearance.
We are witnessing the invasion of Washington by a
new generation of Gucci warriors.
Guernica (gernikb) A military atrocity, especially
an instance of saturation bombing. <strong>The</strong> reference is
to the village of Guernica, capital of the Basque
region of Spain, which was devastated by German
bombers on April 27, 1937 during the Spanish
Civil War. <strong>The</strong> incident was memorably depicted
by Pablo picasso in his painting Guernica. It is probably
an exaggeration to describe the incident as a second
Guernica, but the episode could have serious implications
for peace in the region.
guillotine (gilbteen) A means of severing one
thing from another. <strong>The</strong> word is chiefl y associated
with the device proposed by Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
(1738–1814) for the con ve nient and painless
dispatching of convicted criminals and enemies of
the state at the time of the French Revolution.
Ironically, Guillotin did not actually design the
machine that bears his name, but merely suggested
that the state adopt the device, which was originally
designed by a French surgeon called Antoine
Louis (1723–92). Louis’s device, fi rst used in
1792, comprised a heavy blade that descended
rapidly upon the neck of the victim, severing the
head from the body in a moment. <strong>The</strong> word “guillotine”
has since been applied to less lethal devices,
such as machines for cutting paper, and it has also
been used more broadly in connection with any
act of execution or with the curtailment of various
kinds of activity. “This is usually done by a guillotine
that cuts back a bundle of a dozen or so plants
at a time, and it is not unusual to fi nd the cut ends
chopped and bruised rather roughly” (Bill Swain,
Roses: Questions and Answers, 1990).
Guinevere, Queen See king arthur.
gulag (goolag) A prison camp, especially one that
houses po liti cal prisoners. <strong>The</strong> word comes from
the Rus sian Glavnoye upravleniye ispravitel’notrudovykh
lagerey (meaning “Chief Administration
for Corrective Labor Camps”). Many thousands of
prisoners died in the chain of such camps set up by
the Soviet Union between 1930 and 1955. <strong>The</strong>
word has since been applied to any grim place of
confi nement. After this indiscretion he was confi ned to
the gulag that is the mathematics department.
Gulliver (guliver) A widely traveled person,
especially one made wiser (or more cynical) by his