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

Long John Silver A piratical rascal, or a person
with one leg. Long John Silver, complete with
wooden leg and parrot on his shoulder, is the
archetypal pirate in the classic adventure novel
Trea sure Island (1883) by Scottish novelist Robert
Louis Stevenson (1850–94). At once villainous
and charming, he is very much the center of the
story, which was originally to have been entitled
<strong>The</strong> Sea Cook (Silver serves as cook on board the
Hispaniola). He was loosely based upon a friend of
Stevenson’s, the writer W. E. Henley (1849–
1903), who had a foot amputated as a boy. He
stumped up the ward on his crutches, like Long John
Silver.
long march A long and arduous journey on foot.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to the Long March of some 6,000
miles that was undertaken by Chinese communists
through nationalist lines in 1934–35 to reestablish
their base in northwest China. Of the 100,000
who began the march, considerably less than half
completed it. “Students set out on a ‘Long March’
across Paris from the Sorbonne to the Renault
works” (B. M. Gill, Dying to Meet You, 1989).
looking- glass See through the lookingglass.
look to one’s laurels See laurels.
Lord Fauntleroy, Little See little lord fauntleroy.
Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, the
Things provided by God can just as easily be taken
away by him. <strong>The</strong> proverb is of biblical origin,
appearing in Job 1:21 as “Naked came I out of my
mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither:
the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.” <strong>The</strong>
minister shook his head sadly over the child’s body and
murmured, “<strong>The</strong> Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”
Lord Haw- Haw A man who makes propaganda
broadcasts on behalf of his country’s enemies. <strong>The</strong>
original Lord Haw- Haw was the U.S.- born William
Joyce (1906–46), who broadcast Nazi propaganda
during World War II. Of Irish descent, he
was a fi gure of scorn to the Allies, who mocked his
exaggerated, sneering, upper- class Oxford accent
(hence his nickname, Lord Haw- Haw, originally
bestowed by Daily Express journalist Jonah Barrington).
After the war ended he was hanged for
treason. He was about as effective as a propagandist as
Lord Haw- Haw was. See also tokyo rose.
Lord, how long? See how long, o lord?
Lord is my shepherd, the See green pastures.
Lord Jim A man who cannot accept his own
human failings. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the central character
in the Joseph Conrad novel Lord Jim (1900),
a tragic fi gure who struggles to come to terms
with an act of cowardice in his youth, when he
abandoned the passengers of a ship in which he
was an offi cer. Her grandfather was a Lord Jim who
never came to terms with his disgrace in the war.
Lord Kitchener See your country needs you.
lord of the fl ies See beelzebub.
Lord’s Supper See last supper.
Lorelei (lorbli) A fatally fascinating woman; a
siren. <strong>The</strong> Lorelei is a rocky promontory on the
River Rhine on which, according to German folklore,
a golden- haired siren lived, luring boatmen
Lorelei
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