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

amid the alien corn
16
heroine, complete with blonde locks and pretty
smile. In modern usage, the term tends to be
applied sarcastically to girls whose cloying, saccharine
sweetness some may fi nd off- putting. Tell
America’s Sweetheart over there that we don’t want to
contribute to what ever it is she’s collecting for.
amid the alien corn In a foreign land or among
strangers. This is a quotation from the poem “Ode
to a Nightingale” by the British poet John Keats
(1795–1821), in which he refers to the exile of
the biblical ruth: “Perhaps the selfsame song that
found a path / Through the sad heart of Ruth,
when, sick for home, / She stood in tears amid the
alien corn.” He spent his last years in sad seclusion
amid the alien corn.
amillennialism See millennium.
Am I my brother’s keeper? See my brother’s
keeper.
ammonia (bmonyb) A colorless soluble gas
widely used in making fertilizers and other compounds.
<strong>The</strong> word comes from the name of the
Egyptian god Ammon (meaning “the hidden one”),
as the salt or gum resin that is the source of ammonia
was supposedly fi rst obtained from plants
growing near a temple dedicated to him in Libya.
This machine mea sures the amount of ammonia produced
in the pro cess.
Amos ’n’ Andy (aymbs) Ste reo types of the rural
black population of the United States. Amos ’n’
Andy was massively pop u lar both as a long- running
radio comedy, fi rst broadcast in 1929, and later as
a tele vi sion series, with Freeman S. Gosden as the
hardworking Amos and Charles Correll as his
slower- thinking friend Andy. Because both char-
acters were played by white actors in “blackface”
makeup, the series eventually fell foul of civil
rights activists and the show was canceled in
1958, despite having become a national institution
with a huge following. Nowadays, the names
are sometimes applied to black people who appear
to fi t the characters depicted in the program, usually
by virtue of their dim- wittedness or naive
incompetence. That pair are about as reliable as Amos
’n’ Andy.
Amphitrite (amfi tritee) A woman who loves the
sea. Amphitrite was identifi ed in Greek mythology
as a goddess of the sea, the wife of Poseidon and
mother of Triton. <strong>The</strong> name itself comes from the
Greek for “wearing away on all sides.” She stood in
the vessel’s prow, staring at the distant horizon, Amphitrite
in her element at last.
Amyclaean silence (amikleebn) A self- imposed
silence. According to ancient Greek legend, the
inhabitants of Amyclae were so scared by repeated
rumors that the Spartans were attacking that
they forbade any mention of the subject. Thus,
when the Spartans really did attack, no one
spread the news, and the town was captured. <strong>The</strong>
se nior members of the government seem to have agreed
to answer the questions of the press with an Amyclaean
silence.
Anacreontic (bnakreeontik) In praise of love or
wine; convivial. Anacreon was a celebrated Greek
lyric poet who lived in the sixth century b.c. He
was well known for his verses on the glories of
love and wine, and his name has subsequently been
applied to many poets and artists whose work
deals with similar themes. <strong>The</strong> following week the
magazine published a collection of Anacreontic lyrics by
anonymous readers.