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

leader being Robert Henri (1865–1929). Later
recruits to the movement included Edward Hopper
(1882–1967). <strong>The</strong> subjects of his writing lent him
a spurious ashcan school credibility. See also kitchensink.
ashes See sackcloth and ashes.
ashes to ashes See unto dust shalt thou
return.
Ashtoreth (ashtbreth) Symbol of fertility or sexuality.
Ashtoreth (Ashtorath) is identifi ed in the
Bible as the Phoenician fertility goddess Astarte,
equivalent to the Greek Aphrodite, whom the
Israelites briefl y adopted as an idol, to the great
offense of God: “And the children of Israel did evil
again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim,
and Ashtaroth” ( Judges 10:6). “<strong>The</strong> bailiff was
pointed out to Gabriel, who, checking the palpitation
within his breast at discovering that this Ashtoreth
of strange report was only a modifi cation of
Venus the well- known and admired, retired with
him to talk over the necessary preliminaries of
hiring” (Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd,
1874).
ask and it shall be given you If you want something,
you must take positive action to get it,
rather than do nothing at all. <strong>The</strong> proverb is of
biblical origin, appearing in Matthew 7:7, and is
sometimes encountered in its fuller form: “Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall fi nd;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Variants
include ask and thou shall receive and the more
colloquial them as asks, gits; them as don’t ask,
don’t git. <strong>The</strong> old woman handed over the envelope of
money with a smile and whispered, “Ask and it shall be
given you.”
ask not what your country can do for you Think
what you can do for others, not what others can
do for you. This worthy sentiment was voiced by
President John F. Kennedy (1917–63) in the
course of his inauguration speech on January 20,
1961: “Ask not what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country.” It remains
one of Kennedy’s most oft- quoted lines, though
not always given in full and often with the word
“country” replaced with something else. Ask not
what your computer can do for you . . .
Aslan See narnia.
as mad as a hatter See mad as a hatter.
as old as Methuselah (methoozblb) Very old,
ancient. Methuselah is the oldest man mentioned
in the Bible who, according to Genesis 5:27, died
at the advanced age of 969. “Now, you are my
witness, Miss Summerson, I say I don’t care—but
if he was to come to our house with his great,
shining, lumpy forehead night after night till he
was as old as Methuselah, I wouldn’t have anything
to say to him’ ” (Charles Dickens, Bleak
House, 1852–53). A methuselah is also an oversized
wine bottle with a capacity of eight standard
wine bottles.
Aspasia (aspayzhb) A prostitute. Aspasia was a
celebrated Athenian courtesan of the fi fth century
b.c. whose devoted admirers included Pericles,
who made her his mistress. “<strong>The</strong> man who
acts, decides, and achieves; the woman who
encourages, applauds, and—from a distance—
inspires: the combination is common enough;
but Miss Nightingale was neither an Aspasia nor
an Egeria” (Lytton Strachey, Eminent Victorians,
1918).
Aspasia
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