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

Hogarthian
224
Hogarthian (hogahrtheebn) After the style of
British artist William Hogarth (1697–1764). <strong>The</strong>
term is usually employed with reference to the
satirical content of Hogarth’s paintings and prints,
which lampooned a range of contemporary vices.
“<strong>The</strong> most unpleasant discoveries were made during
the pro cess of clearance: cupboards full of
urine- encrusted chamber pots, of ancient patent
medicine, of dead mice, of moth- infested garments,
of fossilized scraps of 19th- century food:
Hogarthian, Dickensian relics of an oppressed and
squalid past” (Margaret Drabble, <strong>The</strong> Radiant Way,
1988). See also gin lane; rake’s progress.
hoist with one’s own petard (pbtahrd) Caught
out by one’s own cleverness or scheming. <strong>The</strong>
phrase is based on a quotation from William Shakespeare’s
tragedy Hamlet (c. 1600): “For ’tis the
sport to have the enginer \ Hoist with his own
petar.” <strong>The</strong> allusion is to medieval siege warfare
and the use of a petard (a primitive explosive
device) to blow up defensive works: the device
was notoriously unpredictable and often exploded
prematurely, blowing up the engineers who had
set it. She called for an inquiry in the hope of discrediting
her colleague, only to fi nd herself hoist with her own
petard when it was discovered that the cause of the problem
lay in an error she had made herself.
Holden Caulfi eld (holdbn kahlfeeld) Archetype of
a confused, disaffected teenager. Holden Caulfi eld
is the 16- year- old protagonist of J. D. Salinger’s
novel <strong>The</strong> Catcher in the Rye (1951). Holden’s observations
of the world around him lead him to conclude
that he is surrounded by “phonies” and he
accordingly rejects the adult world that he is about
to enter, in the pro cess becoming an icon for rebellious
youth of his and succeeding generations. <strong>The</strong>
role he gives himself, that of catcher in the rye, is
someone who seeks to catch children playing in a
fi eld of rye and thus save them from falling over the
cliff at the edge of it. “It was like spending an evening
with a character from Catcher in the Rye, one
Holden Caulfi eld would have designated ‘a phoney
from some crummy place like Des Moines or somewhere’
” (Tom Pow, In the Palace of Serpents, 1992).
hold the fort To keep things running smoothly,
especially when others are absent. <strong>The</strong> phrase (in
its fuller form “Hold the fort, I’m coming”)
became famous as a message sent in 1864, during
the U.S. Civil War, by Federal General William
Tecumseh Sherman to General John M. Corse
when the latter found himself under threat from a
Confederate advance at the Battle of Allatoona following
the fall of Atlanta. Corse successfully held
off the enemy until Sherman arrived. Sherman’s
actual message was somewhat different in form,
the modern version of it dating from a religious
song written around 1870 by Philip Paul Bliss:
“ ‘Hold the fort, for I am coming,’ / Jesus signals
still; / Wave the answer back to heaven, / ‘By the
grace we will.’ ” I offered to stay at home and hold the
fort while Michael and his brother went off in search of
the missing teenagers.
holier than thou Self- righ teous; inclined to look
down on others. <strong>The</strong> phrase appears in the Bible in
Isaiah 65:5, where “a rebellious people” are condemned
for their arrogance toward others: “Which
say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I
am holier than thou. <strong>The</strong>se are a smoke in my
nose, a fi re that burneth all the day.” His holierthan-
thou attitude did not go down well with the troops,
who began to murmur resentfully among themselves.
hollow men People who lack any real substance
or who lack intelligence, ideals, etc. <strong>The</strong> reference