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

King Log
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deranged when stripped of his illusions and
brought face to face with harsh realities. As told
by William Shakespeare in his tragedy King Lear
(1605), the story of Lear begins with the king
deciding to divide his kingdom between his three
daughters, Goneril, Regan, and cordelia, on
condition that each profess her love for him.
When Cordelia refuses to match the insincere
adoration of her two elder sisters, she is cut off
from her inheritance. Cordelia’s honesty, combined
with the ensuing contempt of Goneril and
Regan, triggers Lear’s descent into madness and,
after the death of Cordelia, his own brokenhearted
demise. <strong>The</strong>re was a legendary early king
of Britain called Lir (or Lear), who was reputed
to have been married to Fingula and, after Fingula’s
death, to the wicked Aoife, who turned Lir’s
children into swans. In modern usage, Lear’s
name is often quoted in discussions about problematic
relations between parents and children.
He looked like King Lear, ranting at his daughter from
the top step in the pouring rain, his long white hair
billowing in the wind.
King Log (log) A peace- loving ruler who rules
with a gentle hand. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to a Greek fable
about some frogs who petition Zeus for a king.
When the god provides them with a log as their
monarch, the frogs complain, and Zeus sends
them a stork instead, which immediately sets
about eating them. “We have all heard of King
Log; but, in these jostling times, one of that royal
kindred will hardly win the race for an elective
chief- magistracy” (Nathaniel Hawthorne, <strong>The</strong>
House of the Seven Gables, 1851).
king of kings A supremely powerful king or
other authority. <strong>The</strong> phrase comes from the Bible,
in which it is one of the titles used to describe God
(as in Ezekiel 26:7 and 1 Timothy 6:15) and Jesus
Christ (as in Revelation 17:14). It has been borne
formally by some Eastern monarchs over the centuries
and was adopted as a title by several rulers
of Ethiopia. <strong>The</strong> managing director likes to remind
other directors that he is the king of kings. Contrary
opinions are not encouraged.
Kiplingesque (kiplingesk) Reminiscent of the
writings of Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), especially
with regard to the imperialistic associations
of his work. Many of Kipling’s stories were set in
British- controlled India, in which country Kipling
himself was born. Tony tried to interrupt, but his aunt
was lost in visions of her Kiplingesque past. See also
gunga din; white man’s burden.
kirche, küche, kinder (kerkb, kookb, kinder) <strong>The</strong>
limitation of women’s interests to religious and
domestic duties. <strong>The</strong> German for “church,
kitchen, children,” the phrase was adopted by the
Nazis to delineate what they insisted was the
proper place for the woman in the modern world.
His grandmother was not one of those women for whom
life was going to be confi ned to kirche, küche, kinder.
Kirk, Captain See star trek.
kiss me, Hardy Farewell, I am dying (used facetiously).
<strong>The</strong>se are reputed to have been the last
words of Admiral nelson to Captain Thomas
Masterman Hardy during the Battle of Trafalgar in
October 1805, the admiral having been shot by a
French sniper and carried below decks on board
his fl agship HMS Victory. <strong>The</strong>re has been much discussion
of the possibility that his actual last words,
misheard by witnesses, were “Kismet, Hardy”
(“kismet” meaning “fate”), although the fact that
Hardy did then kiss Nelson on the cheek casts some