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

Kansas anymore, we’re not in
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the impromptu legal proceedings set up to settle
disputes among miners taking part in the 1849
gold rush (who happened to include many Australians).
<strong>The</strong> name was probably inspired by the
erratic bounds of the kangaroo. “<strong>The</strong>y hold the
odd kangaroo court to deal with those who have
caused trouble but aren’t what the state would
consider criminals—people who con their own
families out of earnings or land, that sort of thing”
(David A. McIntee, White Darkness, 1993).
Kansas anymore, we’re not in See we’re not in
kansas anymore.
Karenina, Anna See anna karenina.
Karloff, Boris See boris karloff.
karma (kahrmb) <strong>The</strong> essence of a person’s spiritual
being. <strong>The</strong> concept of karma is a central idea
in both Hindu and Buddhist thought, and it is the
state of a person’s karma at the end of his or her
life that decides the nature of the individual’s next
incarnation. In modern usage the word is often
taken to refer generally to fate or to a person’s
soul or sense of spiritual well- being. She resolutely
refused to allow her karma to be disrupted by the disturbing
news coming at her on the tele vi sion and radio
and settled down to spend the eve ning with a good
book.
Karno’s Army See fred karno’s army.
Kate Archetype of a self- willed, nagging woman.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to the title character in William
Shakespeare’s comedy <strong>The</strong> Taming of the Shrew
(c. 1594), in which Kate is depicted as an untamed,
shrewish young woman who is eventually brought
to heel by Petruchio, who cowes her after making
her his wife. <strong>The</strong> play, with its somewhat misogynistic
message, presents a problem for modern
directors and audiences, although its comedy and
characters remain as sparkling and effective as they
were in Shakespeare’s day. He thought he had wed a
Barbie, but it turned out he had married a Kate.
Keaton, Buster See buster keaton.
Kedar’s tents (keedahrz) <strong>The</strong> world of the human
race. <strong>The</strong> expression is biblical in origin, alluding
to Kedar, the son of Ishmael who is identifi ed in
Genesis 25:13 as the forbear of a tribe of nomadic
Arabs. <strong>The</strong> phrase itself appears in Psalm 120:5:
“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell
in the tents of Kedar!” <strong>The</strong>y found the old beggar’s
body the following day. Some time during the night he
had made his escape from Kedar’s tents.
keep oneself unspotted from the world To keep
oneself free of the corruptions of the world. <strong>The</strong>
expression is biblical: “Pure religion and undefi
led before God and the Father is this, To visit
the fatherless and widows in their affl iction, and
to keep himself unspotted from the world”
(James 1:27). “<strong>The</strong>n there was an interval and a
scene with his people, who expected much from
him. Next a year of living unspotted from the
world in a third- rate depot battalion where all
the ju niors were children, and all the se niors old
women; and lastly he came out to India, where
he was cut off from the support of his parents,
and had no one to fall back on in time of trouble
except himself ” (Rudyard Kipling, Plain Tales from
the Hills, 1888).
keep the ball rolling To maintain momentum in
something; to keep something going. <strong>The</strong> allusion
here (though largely forgotten) is to the U.S.