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

Sam Spade
414
inspector forcibly of Samson, blind, grinds in prison. See
also eyeless in gaza.
Sam Spade (spayd) Archetype of a tough, shrewd
private detective. Sam Spade was created by U.S.
crime writer Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961) in
his novel <strong>The</strong> Maltese Falcon (1930) and memorably
brought to life in the cinema by Humphrey Bogart.
<strong>The</strong> inspector is no fool, I grant you, but he’s not
Sam Spade.
Samuel (samybwbl, samybl) Archetype of a
prophet whose prophecies always come true. <strong>The</strong>
allusion is to the biblical Samuel, the prophet and
judge who anointed Saul and David (as related in
1 Samuel 9–10 and 16). By this time the old man had
acquired a reputation as the party’s Samuel, divining
long before any others which way the po liti cal wind was
likely to blow.
Sam Weller (weler) A constant, devoted companion,
especially a personal servant of some kind.
Sam Weller is the cheerful cockney manservant of
the bumbling Mr. Pickwick in <strong>The</strong> Pickwick Papers
(1837) by British novelist Charles Dickens (see
pickwickian). Though comically unable to pronounce
the letter “v,” he is more worldly- wise than
his master and helps get the latter out of more
than one embarrassing mess as he conducts his
famous tour round the countryside. <strong>The</strong> archbishop
was very accident- prone and needed his own Sam Weller
to keep him out of trouble.
Sancho Panza See don quixote.
sanctum sanctorum See holy of holies.
sandals of <strong>The</strong>ramenes See wear the sandals
of theramenes.
Sandhurst (sandherst) <strong>The</strong> offi cer class of the
British army. Since 1802 the town of Sandhurst,
near Camberley in Surrey, has been home to the
British army’s offi cer- training establishment, originally
called the Royal Military College but renamed
the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1947.
<strong>The</strong> term is now synonymous with the training of
the army’s commanders. Her father was a Sandhurst
type, with a bristling mustache and barking paradeground
voice but also a developed eye for a good claret.
See also aldershot.
sansculottes (sonskoolot) Po liti cal extremists,
especially ones hailing from a working- class background.
<strong>The</strong> original sansculottes were radical
French Republicans who formed the core of the
Paris mob duing the French Revolution of 1789.
<strong>The</strong>y were so named with reference to the fact
that they wore trousers or pantaloons as opposed
to the knee breeches (culottes) of the wealthy upper
classes—sans being the French for “without.” “By
this time I was thoroughly disgusted with these fat
cats taking food from the mouths of the sansculottes”
(Bette Howell, Dandelion Days, 1991).
Santa Claus (santb klahz) A jovial, gift- giving
Christmas character. <strong>The</strong> name Santa Claus comes
from the Dutch Sante Klaas, identifying him as the
patron saint of Dutch and German children (elsewhere
called Saint Nicholas). Although his feast
day actually falls on December 6, Santa Claus
eventually merged with the British character
Father Christmas in the En glish- speaking world.
He now has a developed mythology, supposedly
being a white- bearded, fat old man dressed in a
bright red suit lined with white fur and delivering
sacks of presents to well- behaved children around
the world by means of a sleigh drawn by reindeer,
gaining access to houses via the chimney. “Mostly