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

sion, a great thought is never found in a mean dress;
but though it proceed from the lips of the Woloffs,
the nine Muses and the three Graces will have
conspired to clothe it in fi t phrase” (Henry David
Thoreau, Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers,
1849).
Three Mile Island A nuclear accident threatening
a widespread catastrophe. Three Mile Island
was the name of a nuclear power station at Middletown,
Pennsylvania, which, on March 28,
1979, was the scene of an accident resulting in
the release of radioactive material threatening the
lives of 36,000 people living in the area. Ever since
then the term Three Mile Island has been quoted
as a warning of the ever- present risk of environmental
disaster associated with reliance upon
nuclear power. According to the press, we came perilously
close to suffering another Three Mile Island. See
also chernobyl; china syndrome; meltdown.
Three Musketeers A trio of swashbuckling
heroes or loyal friends. <strong>The</strong> novel <strong>The</strong> Three Musketeers
(1844) by the French writer Alexandre
Dumas père (1802–70) was set in 17th- century
France and related the adventures of three of the
king’s dashing sword- wielding musketeers, Athos,
Porthos, and Aramis, together with new recruit
D’Artagnan, as they sought to defend the interests
of the king against the scheming Cardinal
Richelieu. “She was barely seventeen, the youn gest
of the Three Musketeers, as they had styled themselves
long ago; yet in everything except appearance
she might have been at least ten years older”
(Mary Gervaise, <strong>The</strong> Distance Enchanted, 1983). See
also all for one and one for all.
three- pipe problem A particularly diffi cult problem.
<strong>The</strong> allusion is to the sherlock holmes
detective stories of the British writer Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle (1859–1930), in the course of
which the detective likes to consider unfathomable
cases over one, two, or (rarely) three pipefuls
of tobacco. Reducing pollution in China while not
hindering economic progress is a three- pipe problem for
environmentalists.
threescore years and ten <strong>The</strong> age of 70. Once
considered the average length of time that a person
might expect to live, the phrase comes from
Psalm 90:10: “<strong>The</strong> days of our years are threescore
years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be
fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and
sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fl y away.” “By
and by we are called in to see an old baby, threescore
years and ten or more old” (Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Elsie Venner, 1861).
Three Stooges, the (stoojbz) An incompetent
or comical trio. <strong>The</strong> Three Stooges were a pop u lar
cinema slapstick comedy act who starred in some
200 movies from the 1930s to the 1960s. <strong>The</strong>
original Stooges were Larry Fine (Louis Feinberg;
1902–75), Moe Howard (Moses Horwitz; 1897–
1975), and Curly Howard (Jerome Lester Horwitz;
1903–52), although Curly was replaced by
another Howard brother, Shemp Howard (Samuel
Horwitz; 1895–1955), in 1947. Watching the three
men trying to sort out the mess they had made was like
watching the Three Stooges.
three wise men See magi.
throne of grace
throne of grace <strong>The</strong> throne of God and, by extension,
heaven. <strong>The</strong> phrase appears in the letter to
the Hebrews 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and fi nd grace to help in time of need.” <strong>The</strong> term
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