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

Homeric
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comes from the title of a pop u lar song written in
1934 by Fred Hillebrand, though it clearly harks
back to an earlier era when people traveled around
in horse- drawn carriages driven by their servants.
We need to get back before midnight, so home, James, and
don’t spare the horses!
Homeric (homerik) Heroic, epic, mythic. <strong>The</strong>
reference is to the celebrated eighth- century b.c.
blind Greek poet Homer, traditionally credited
with authorship of the Iliad, which recounts the
latter stages of the Trojan War, and of the Odyssey,
which describes the wanderings of Odysseus as
he sails home after that war. Homeric laughter
denotes unrestrained mirth of epic proportions, as
heard at the feast of the gods according to the
Iliad. “With a boy, trouble must be of Homeric
dimensions to last overnight” (Booth Tarkington,
Penrod, 1914).
Homer sometimes nods (homer) Even the wisest
or most capable person can make a mistake.
<strong>The</strong> reference is to the celebrated eighth- century
b.c. blind Greek poet Homer, author of the Iliad
and the Odyssey. <strong>The</strong> expression, also found in the
form even Homer sometimes nods, is thought
to have made its fi rst appearance in Ars Poetica
(359) by the Roman poet Horace, in which the
author laments that Homer occasionally lapses
from the highest standards in his writing, but
quickly adds that such fl aws are readily forgivable
in one so great. <strong>The</strong> fi nal chapter of the book is a
disappointment, as though the master had lost his concentration
at the vital moment, but as they say “even
Homer sometimes nods.”
Hood, Robin See robin hood.
Hook, Captain See captain hook.
Hooverville (hoovervil) A shanty town or other
area of dilapidated or temporary housing. <strong>The</strong>
term alludes to the shanty towns made largely of
crates and other bits of scrap that sprang up in
various parts of the United States during the great
depression of the 1930s when Herbert Hoover
(1874–1964) was president. Hoover himself was
blamed for the existence of such areas by many of
the destitute and otherwise homeless people who
took up residence there. <strong>The</strong> last the family heard of
him was that he had been evicted from his home and
forced to move to the Hooverville that had gradually
built up between the interstate and the river.
Hopalong Cassidy Archetype of a clean- cut cowboy
hero. Hopalong Cassidy made his fi rst appearance
in a cowboy novel written in 1906 by
Clarence E. Mulford, but enjoyed his heyday as a
hero of the silver screen in a series of 66 lowbud
get movies made between 1935 and 1948,
starring William Boyd. Comparisons to Hopalong
Cassidy today are likely to be humorous in tone.
I’d pay you in cash and forget about the tax if it wasn’t
for Hopalong Cassidy over there.
hope deferred makes the heart sick Delay or
disappointment in realizing one’s hopes can be the
cause of great unhappiness. <strong>The</strong> saying has biblical
origins: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but
when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Proverbs
13:12). “She had not suffered so much from a
want of food, however, as from a want of air and
exercise; from unremitting, wasting toil at a sedentary
occupation, from hope deferred and from
sleepless nights” ( James Fenimore Cooper, Autobiography
of a Pocket- Handkerchief, 1843).
Horatian (hbrayshbn) Of or relating to a balanced
viewpoint, especially one that is satirical and