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

“Very many men nowadays besides the archdeacon
adopt or affect to adopt the nil admirari doctrine;
but nevertheless, to judge from their appearance,
they are just as subject to sudden emotions as their
grandfathers and grandmothers were before them”
(Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, 1857).
nil desperandum (neel despbrahndbm) Never
give in to despair. This nugget of proverbial advice
comes from the writings of the Roman poet Horace
(65–8 b.c.). “This hitch in the mainspring of
the domestic machinery had a bad effect upon the
whole concern, but Amy’s motto was ‘Nil desperandum,’
and having made up her mind what to do,
she proceeded to do it in spite of all obstacles”
(Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, 1868–69).
Nimrod (nimrod) A daring or skillful hunter of
animals. Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, is identifi
ed in Genesis 10:9 as a “mighty hunter before the
LORD.” His kingdom included Babylon, Erech,
and Akkad. According to legend, he acquired the
link with hunting because he wore the animal skins
that God had given to Adam for clothing, and it
was through the divine infl uence of these that he
could subdue any beast he encountered. Medieval
tradition named Nimrod as the builder of the
tower of Babel, and in former times his name was
often applied to tyrants. <strong>The</strong> epithet is more often
applied today to hunters of big game or to outstanding
fi gures in sports. “You may think that
Herr Doctor Kennicott is a Nimrod, but you ought
to have seen me daring him to strip to his B. V. D.’s
and go swimming in an icy mountain brook” (Sinclair
Lewis, Main Street, 1920).
911 (nin wbn wbn) <strong>The</strong> emergency ser vices. <strong>The</strong>
numbers 911 are those dedicated for calling assistance
on the U.S. telephone system and have thus
Nineveh and Tyre
become synonymous with emergencies of one
kind or another. His weird behavior soon had his
mother shrieking for 911.
9/11 (nin ilevbn) Of or relating to the terrorist
attacks that took place on U.S. targets on September
11, 2001. <strong>The</strong> horror surrounding the destruction
of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
in New York City and the damage caused to the
Pentagon in Washington using hijacked aircraft has
made the date (otherwise referred to as September
11) synonymous with terrorist atrocity. It also
profoundly affected Western attitudes toward terrorist
organizations around the world: Awareness
of the threat posed by international terrorism was
greatly promoted and subsequently infl uenced the
foreign policies of the United States and various
allies with relation to states accused of sponsoring
such activity. Memories of 9/11 have not faded in the
years that have passed since that fateful day. See also
guantánamo.
Nineveh and Tyre (ninbvb, tir) Great cities that
face ruination through the evil ways of their inhabitants.
According to Nahum 3:7 and Ezekiel 25–
26, the wealthy cities of Nineveh and Tyre were
both destroyed as a result of the indulgent lifestyles
of their citizens, who had ignored warnings
of the fate they risked. Nineveh was a capital of
Assyria and now lies in ruins on the opposite bank
of the Tigris to modern Mosul in Iraq; the site of
Tyre, once an important port in Syria and later the
capital of Phoenicia, is occupied by a small fi shing
village called Sur in southern Lebanon. <strong>The</strong>ir
names are usually invoked as a warning against the
wicked or conceited: “Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
/ Is one with Nineveh and Tyre” (Rudyard
Kipling, “Recessional,” 1897). To John Masefi eld,
in his poem “Cargoes” (1903), however, Nineveh
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