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

Roy Rogers
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Rick himself ) shot the Nazi offi cer Major Strasser.
<strong>The</strong> phrase is also used in more general contexts,
with “the usual suspects” referring to things (or
people) that are always found in a par tic u lar situation,
items that are always mentioned when a partic
u lar subject comes up, and so on. “Excise duties
are taxes on specifi c home- produced or imported
goods, with ‘cigarettes, booze and petrol’ being
the usual suspects to be rounded up on each Budget
day” (Philip Jones and John Cullis, Public Finance
and Public Choice, 1992).
Roy Rogers Archetype of a wholesome cowboy
hero. Roy Rogers (1912–98) was an actor and
country- and- western singer who starred in a
series of films and in his own tele vi sion Western
series, <strong>The</strong> Roy Rogers Show (1955–57). Aided by
Dale Evans and mounted on a palomino horse
called Trigger, he maintained law and order in
between singing songs about the Old West. He
looked like Roy Rogers in his check shirt and big
white hat.
Rubenesque (roobbnesk) Describing a woman
who is curvaceous, voluptuous, or generously
fl eshed. <strong>The</strong> allusion is the somewhat corpulent
women who featured in substantial numbers in
the paintings of the Flemish artist Peter Paul
Rubens (1577–1640). <strong>The</strong> fi rst woman he was introduced
to at the party was a Rubenesque matriarch with
bright red hair.
Rubicon See cross the rubicon.
ruby slippers See wicked witch of the west.
Rudolph Nureyev See nureyev.
Rudolph Valentino See valentino.
rule, golden See golden rule.
rule with a rod of iron To rule harshly; to exercise
authority with severity. <strong>The</strong> expression
comes from the Bible, occurring in Revelation
2:27, 12:5, and 19:15 and in Psalm 2:9. “Emmeline
took after her father; she was big and dark and
homely, and she was the most domineering creature
that ever stepped on shoe leather. She simply
ruled poor Prissy with a rod of iron” (Lucy Maud
Montgomery, Chronicles of Avonlea, 1912).
Rumpelstiltskin (rumpblstiltskin) A person who
easily fl ies into a temper, especially one of relatively
small stature. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to a story collected
in grimm’s fairy tales about a malevolent
gnome who challenges a princess to guess his
name in order to save her fi rstborn child from
him. When she successfully fi nds out what his
name is, the little man fl ies into a rage and stamps
his foot through the fl oor; when he tries to pull it
free he only succeeds in tearing himself apart. No
one liked the boss, a vindictive little man whose nickname
was Rumpelstiltskin.
run the gauntlet To risk or undergo a demanding
ordeal or trial. In this phrase the word “gauntlet”
comes from the Swedish gatlopp, meaning “passageway,”
and relates to a punishment commonly
infl icted upon soldiers and sailors at the time of
the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48). It involved guilty
men being forced to run between two fi les of men
who beat them with rope ends. “However, such
trust is not shown towards relatives and friends
who assist suffering people in this way: they must
run the gauntlet of a legal pro cess which accords
no formal recognition to the circumstances under
which they killed” (Andrew Ashworth, Principles of
Criminal Law, 1991).