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

word in its modern usage necessarily casts a pall
of shame over the person concerned. “He said
to himself that she was too light and childish, too
uncultivated and unreasoning, too provincial, to
have refl ected upon her ostracism, or even to have
perceived it” (Henry James, Daisy Miller, 1879).
Othello (othelo) Archetype of a jealous lover.
<strong>The</strong> central character in William Shakespeare’s
tragedy Othello (c. 1603), Othello the Moor
becomes convinced (falsely) of his wife desdemona’s
infi delity and kills her before realizing his
mistake and committing suicide. Jealousy turned
him from a meek little rabbit into a raging Othello. See
also iago.
OTT See go over the top.
our daily bread See daily bread.
Our Father See paternoster.
ours not to reason why It is not up to us to question
our orders, but just to obey them. This weary
ac cep tance of the authority of others has its roots
in a quotation from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem
“<strong>The</strong> Charge of the Light Brigade”: “<strong>The</strong>irs not to
make reply, / <strong>The</strong>irs not to reason why, / <strong>The</strong>irs
but to do and die.” Personally I think it’s a mad decision,
but ours not to reason why. See also charge of
the light brigade.
out, damned spot! An expression of remorse at
some past misdeed that refuses to be forgotten.
<strong>The</strong> exclamation is a quotation from William
Shakespeare’s tragedy macbeth (1606), in which
it is delivered by lady macbeth as she tries to
clean her hands of the (imaginary) blood of King
Duncan, murdered by her husband with her
encouragement. In modern usage, with its inevitable
suggestion of melodrama, the line is usually
quoted in a humorous or mocking tone, or in such
everyday contexts as the cleaning of clothes. “Out,
damned spot!” he roared as he held the door open for the
dog to go out.
outer darkness <strong>The</strong> most distant darkness, as a
judgment for those who reject the light of God’s
truth. <strong>The</strong> phrase is biblical in origin, appearing in
Matthew 8:12 in the words of Christ himself: “But
the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer
darkness.” (See also Matthew 22:13 and 25:30.)
“. . . and the Chief priest of Corporate Affairs
demanded of the Lord High Editor that the poor
scribe who inhabiteth the back page be cast into
the outer darkness” (Alan Williams, Modern Railways,
May 2001). See also weeping and gnashing
of teeth.
Outer Mongolia (mongoleeb) A very remote
place. <strong>The</strong> use of the term was undoubtedly suggested
by the remoteness and inaccessibility of
Outer Mongolia, which is situated between Rus sia
and China. When they posted her boyfriend to the offshore
oil rig, they might as well have sent him to Outer
Mongolia, for there was absolutely no way she could get
to him.
out for the count See down for the count.
out- Herod Herod
out- Herod Herod (herbd) To outmatch someone
in something, especially in cruelty. <strong>The</strong> allusion is
to Herod the Great (c. 37–4 b.c.), the ruler of
Judaea who ordered all the male infants of Bethlehem
put to death in an attempt to secure the death
of the newly born Christ (Matthew 2:16–18). It
was William Shakespeare, in his play Hamlet
(c. 1600), who fi rst employed the phrase: “I would
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