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

spirit in her” (1 Kings 10:4–5). According to
some accounts she and Solomon became lovers.
Her name is usually invoked as a criticism of
women who are guilty of pretensions of grandeur
or haughty behavior, but it may also sometimes
symbolize vanquished pride, as in Thomas Hardy’s
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891), in which Tess
laments, “I’m like the poor Queen of Sheba who
lives in the Bible. <strong>The</strong>re is no more spirit in me.”
“ ‘You ought’—‘Ought what, sir?’ demanded the
lady, gazing at her husband with the air of a Queen
of Sheba” (Honoré de Balzac, Cousin Pons, 1847).
Queensberry Rules (kweenzbbree) <strong>The</strong> rules of
fair play. John Sholto Douglas, the marquess of
Queensberry (1844–1900), was an enthusiastic
sportsman who, in 1867, oversaw the establishment
of a new set of rules intended to make boxing
a safer sport. <strong>The</strong> so- called “Queensberry
Rules” prohibited (among other tactics) biting,
kicking, and hitting below the belt. Nowadays,
anyone who does not play fairly in any sporting or
nonsporting context may be accused of not playing
by the Queensberry Rules. “Not exactly the
Queensberry Rules, but it worked” (Simon
Romain, How to Live Safely in a Dangerous World,
1989). See also hit below the belt.
queer as a clockwork orange See clockwork
orange.
Queer Street See carey street.
que sera, sera See che sarà, sarà.
quick and the dead, the <strong>The</strong> living and the dead.
<strong>The</strong> phrase appears in the Apostles’ Creed (in the
Book of Common Prayer), in which Christ is identifi
ed as the judge of the living and the dead: “From
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
thence he shall come to judge the quick and the
dead.” It appears in the Bible in similar form in
Acts 10:42, 2 Timothy 4:1, and 1 Peter 4:5. In
modern usage it is usually quoted with parodic
intent. Local tradition insisted that the old churchyard
was a place of macabre happenings, where the quick and
the dead came face to face.
quick on the draw Quick to respond to an
opportunity or threat. <strong>The</strong> allusion is the gunfi ghters
of the Wild West and the cliché of the duel
with guns fought in the streets of Dodge City and
other towns, although these were largely the stuff
of legend somewhat removed from reality. Survival
in such a duel depended upon being the fi rst
to draw the revolver from the holster. An early
variant was quick on the trigger. “But Goldie,
quick on the draw, intervenes” (Ellen Galford, <strong>The</strong>
Dyke and the Dybbuk, 1993).
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (kwis kbstodeebt
ipsos kbstodayz) Who will guard the guards themselves?
This proverbial word of warning emphasizing
the need for those in authority to be themselves
accountable to others comes from the writings of
the Roman satirist Juvenal (c. a.d. 55–c. 140),
specifi cally Satire VI. Juvenal addressed it originally
to ner vous husbands who hired others to
guard the chastity of their wives. <strong>The</strong> line continues
to be quoted today whenever doubt is cast
about the trustworthiness of people occupying
posts of considerable power, authority, or opportunity.
“<strong>The</strong> bad mea sures or bad appointments of
a minister may be checked by Parliament; and the
interest of ministers in defending, and of rival partisans
in attacking, secures a tolerably equal discussion:
but quis custodiet custodes? who shall
check the Parliament?” ( John Stuart Mill, Considerations
on Representative Government, 1861).
391