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

Pavlovian (pavloveebn) Automatic; conditioned;
refl ex. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the Rus sian physiologist
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936), whose observations
of the reaction of hungry dogs trained to
associate the sound of a bell with the arrival of
food led him to develop the theory of the conditioned
refl ex. Such unthinking, knee- jerk reactions
in humans and animals have since been
known as Pavlovian responses. Pavlov’s other
work on digestion earned him a Nobel Prize in
1904. “<strong>The</strong> object of this sort of propaganda was
to produce a Pavlovian state of dumb obedience”
(Mark Almond, <strong>The</strong> Rise and Fall of Nicolae and
Elena Ceausescu, 1992).
pax (paks) Peace; truce. In Roman mythology
Pax was the goddess of peace, equivalent to the
Greek irene. She was often depicted by the Romans
holding an olive branch, a symbol of peace or reconciliation
still familiar today. <strong>The</strong> younger lad called
out “Pax,” and the fi ght came to an abrupt end.
peace for the wicked, no See no peace for the
wicked.
peace, goodwill toward men See goodwill to
all men.
peace in our time A guarantee of peace, especially
a dubious one. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to British prime
minister Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940) and an
address he gave to a large crowd in Downing Street
on his arrival back from Nazi Germany on September
30, 1938, reassuring them about the peace
agreement he had just negotiated with Adolf hitler
in Munich: “My good friends, this is the second
time in our history that there has come back from
Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I
believe it is peace for our time.” Chamberlain’s
choice of words was clearly infl uenced by the
versicle in Morning Prayer from the Church of
En gland’s Book of Common Prayer: “Give peace in our
time, O Lord”—and Chamberlain’s words are
almost invariably rendered as “peace in our time”
not “peace for our time.” <strong>The</strong> hollowness of the socalled
Munich Agreement was quickly exposed,
and within 12 months Britain was at war with Hitler’s
Germany. If the union accept the proposal it could
mean peace in our time. See also piece of paper.
peacemakers, blessed are the See beatitude.
pearl of great price
peace of God which passeth all understanding
See pass all understanding.
Pearl Harbor Epitome of a treacherous and catastrophic
surprise attack. <strong>The</strong> U.S. naval base at Pearl
Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, was the
unsuspecting target of a massed raid by Japa nese
carrier- borne aircraft on Sunday, December 7,
1941. Many major U.S. warships were sunk or
damaged during the raid, although the carriers the
Japa nese had hoped to fi nd there were at sea at the
time of the attack. <strong>The</strong> raid shocked U.S. public
opinion and was a key factor in bringing the United
States into World War II. U.S. troops were subsequently
reported going into battle shouting
remember Pearl Harbor! and Pearl Harbor is still
remembered as a prime example of a disastrous
setback. “It will take a second Pearl Harbor for the
Americans to realise how ineffi cient the NSA really
is, just as it took the Falklands War of 1982 to reveal
the defi ciencies at GCHQ” ( James Rusbridger, <strong>The</strong>
Intelligence Game, 1991). See also day of infamy.
pearl of great price Something of great value or
importance. <strong>The</strong> phrase is biblical in origin, appearing
in Matthew 13:45–46 in one of Christ’s
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