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

oom to swing a cat
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a Room 101 at London’s Broadcasting House as an
employee of the BBC, hence his choice of the number
for his own infamous room. Bearing in mind the
team’s dismal run of results so far this season, their stadium
has become a Room 101 for their fans. See also big
brother.
room to swing a cat Adequate space. <strong>The</strong> allusion
is to nautical jargon and the use of the cat o’ nine
tails (a whip with nine lashes) to punish sailors who
were guilty of breaking naval rules. Space between
decks on sailing ships was obviously restricted, and
a certain amount of room was needed to administer
the punishment effectively. <strong>The</strong> phrase is commonly
used in the negative to describe a cramped
space, as in “no room to swing a cat.” <strong>The</strong>y called it a
spare bedroom but there wasn’t room to swing a cat.
root of all evil See money is the root of all
evil.
Rosa Parks (rozb) A committed campaigner
against racism. Rosa Parks (1913–2005) was a
black woman who, on December 1, 1956, in Montgomery,
Alabama, defi ed the state’s race laws by
refusing to vacate the seat she had taken in the
white- only section of a bus, thus triggering the
Montgomery bus boycott and rallying opposition
to racial segregation. For her act of defi ance, Rosa
Parks came to be considered the mother of the
modern civil rights movement. <strong>The</strong> old woman
looked set to become South Africa’s Rosa Parks.
Roscius (roshbs) An outstanding actor. This
epithet alludes to Quintus Roscius Gallus (c. 126–
62 b.c.), who was a celebrated comic actor on the
Roman stage and a friend of Cicero. Likewise, the
adjective Roscian describes a theatrical per formance
of great skill. Among later performers
compared with Roscius were Shakespeare’s contemporary
Richard Burbage (c. 1567–1619), who
was described as “another Roscius”; Thomas Betterton
(1635–1710), who was known as the “British
Roscius”; and William Betty (1791–1874),
who was called the “Young Roscius.” “<strong>The</strong> celebrated
provincial amateur of Roscian renown”
(Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1860).
Rosebud Something that serves to remind a person
vividly of their youth, or of their unrealized
dreams. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the classic 1941 movie
citizen kane, in which “Rosebud” is the mysterious
fi nal utterance of the dying tycoon, played by
Orson Welles. Everyone wonders what it could
have meant, and it is only the fi nal shot of a child’s
sled labeled “Rosebud” that reveals that the dead
man was thinking back to his early childhood. This
child’s toy was his Rosebud, the key to a thousand distant
happy memories.
rose of Sharon (sharbn) An unidentifi ed fl ower
whose beauty is variously taken to represent love
or loveliness, especially as a description of Jesus
Christ. <strong>The</strong> image of the rose of Sharon occurs in
the biblical Song of Solomon 2:1–2, in which it is
put into the mouth of the bride: “I am the rose of
Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” <strong>The</strong> fl ower in
question has been tentatively identifi ed as the
autumn crocus, asphodel, or narcissus, which fl ourished
on the plain of Sharon, a fertile area on the
coast of ancient Palestine. “ ‘<strong>The</strong> Rose of Sharon and
the Lily of the Valley,’—answered the Prior, in a
sort of snuffl ing tone; ‘but your Grace must
remember she is still but a Jewess’ ” (Sir Walter
Scott, Ivanhoe, 1819).
Rosetta stone (rozetb) <strong>The</strong> key to unraveling a
code or mystery of some kind. <strong>The</strong> Rosetta Stone