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

Ananias club (anbnibs) A band of liars or deceivers.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is biblical, referring to a rich man
called Ananias who, in expectation of Christ’s
Second Coming, attempted to join the devout
community led by the apostle Peter. Ananias and
his wife, Sophia, had sold a piece of property. With
his wife’s full knowledge, Ananias had retained
some of the money from the sale for himself and
brought the rest and put it at the apostle’s feet.
Ananias claimed to have given all his money, but
Peter knew that the offer was insincere. He
accused Ananias of dishonesty, and the latter was
immediately struck dead. According to the account
in Acts 5:1–12, the same fate also befell Ananias’s
wife, when she, unaware of her husband’s demise,
also came to Peter and maintained that they had
laid before him all their worldly wealth. Ever
since, the name has often been applied to liars, but
it was U.S. president <strong>The</strong>odore Roo se velt (1858–
1919) who coined “Ananias club,” directing it
specifi cally at his po liti cal enemies and at journalists
who betrayed his confi dence. <strong>The</strong> Ananias club
of news reporters and paparazzi was barred from entering
the building so that the various leaders could discuss
matters without the fear that their words would be publicly
distorted.
anathema (bnathbmb) Something or someone
deemed detestable or otherwise accursed or intolerable.
Originally a Greek word implying “something
hung up in a temple and dedicated to a god,”
it took on a more negative connotation through
the Hebrew practice of “dedicating” their defeated
enemies to God by sacrifi cing them. In the New
Testament the word thus came to denote anything
abhorrent to the Lord and by extension anything
evil or accursed. <strong>The</strong> Book of 1 Corinthians ends
with the apostle Paul writing, “If any man love not
the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Mara-
ancient mariner
natha” (16:22). (Maranatha means “the Lord
cometh” and is intended merely as a closing benediction
to the letter but sometimes is mistakenly
treated as an intensifi cation of anathema). It also
came to be applied to formal denunciations or
the curse of excommunication (or curses in general).
<strong>The</strong> idea of taking a vacation in a country where
women were treated as second- class citizens was anathema
to her.
Anchises (ankiseez) Archetype of an aged but
respected parent. According to Greek mythology,
the goddess of love, Aphrodite, fell in love with
Anchises when he was a handsome young Trojan
prince and in due course bore him the hero
aeneas. When Aeneas was allowed to go free after
the sack of Troy by the Greeks, who greatly
respected his prowess, and permitted to take the
one thing he most valued with him Aeneas chose
the now aged and infi rm Anchises, carry ing him
on his shoulders through the fl ames. Anchises subsequently
accompanied Aeneas on his voyages and
died in Sicily aged 80. “Ay, as Aeneas our great
ancestor / Did from the fl ames of Troy upon his
shoulder / <strong>The</strong> old Anchises bear, so from the
waves of Tiber / Did I the tired Caesar” (William
Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1599).
ancien régime (on(g)seeon(g) rayzheem) <strong>The</strong> old
order or system. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the Bourbon
regime that was overthrown by the French Revolution
of 1789. <strong>The</strong> implication is usually that
things were much worse under the old order. With
this latest round of elections within the university the
last of the ancien régime has been swept away.
ancient mariner A person, typically an old man,
who insists upon telling his story, which is usually
lengthy and melodramatic in nature. <strong>The</strong> allusion
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