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

noonday demon
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noonday demon Indolence, vanity, or some other
sin to which a person may be most susceptible
when all is going well. <strong>The</strong> phrase is biblical in origin,
appearing in Psalm 91:4–6, where it warns
against dangers that can arise when least expected:
“His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou
shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; Nor
for the arrow that fl ieth by day; nor for the pestilence
that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday.” It is usually applied
nowadays to threats that come in disguise or, specifi
cally, to the temptations to laziness that come
with middle age. Financially secure and comfortable in
his surroundings, he no longer resisted the lures of his
noonday demons and began to spend his eve nings slumped
in front of the tele vi sion, humming softly to himself.
no other gods before me See thou shalt have
no other gods before me.
no peace for the wicked <strong>The</strong>re is always some
task to be done, considering the interruptions and
disturbances of daily life. <strong>The</strong> phrase comes from
Isaiah 57:21, where it implies that those who are
given to evil can expect no respite from anxiety
and fear: “<strong>The</strong>re is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked.” In modern parlance the expression is
usually applied ironically, typically when a person
feels obliged to cut short a rest in order to meet
the demands of others or return to work that
needs to be done. But there is no peace for the wicked,
and hardly had she sat down but there was a knock at the
front door and she had to get up again.
no respecter of persons <strong>The</strong> treatment of others
without favor or prejudice, regardless of their status,
wealth, etc. <strong>The</strong> phrase is biblical in origin, for
example, “<strong>The</strong>n Peter opened his mouth, and said,
Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of
persons” (Acts 10:34). In Deuteronomy 1:17
Moses instructs those who are to sit as judges as
follows: “Ye shall not respect persons in judgment;
but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye
shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment
is God’s.” “<strong>The</strong> law, gentlemen, is no respecter
of persons in a free country” ( James Fenimore
Cooper, <strong>The</strong> Pioneers, 1823).
Norman Bates See bates motel; psycho.
Norman Rockwell Representative of idealized
small- town America. <strong>The</strong> artist Norman Rockwell
(1894–1978) became famous for his depictions
of ordinary life in homely small- town settings
during the 1950s and 1960s, many of which
appeared on the covers of pop u lar magazines of
the era. Her parents still lived in a Norman Rockwell
world, where everything was neat and tidy and crime was
something you only read about in the racier newspapers.
Norns (nornz) <strong>The</strong> fates. In Norse mythology,
the Norns were three goddesses (Urd, Verdandi,
and Skuld) who spun the threads of destiny and
exercised supreme control over the fates of both
mortals and gods. <strong>The</strong> three controllers of the company
were like the Fates, or the Norns of the Vikings, cutting the
threads of life as they thought fi t and thus closing down
entire networks and departments without warning.
no room at the inn No vacancy; no space available.
<strong>The</strong> expression comes from the Bible, where
it appears in Luke 2:7, which relates how Joseph
and the pregnant Mary arrived at Bethlehem only
to fi nd the rooms in the local inn were all taken,
obliging them to sleep in the stable: “No room for
them in the inn.” We had hoped to stay at the hotel
overlooking the town square, but the place was packed for
the carnival and there was no room at the inn.