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Any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot
(Ancient Greek and Roman Drama) |
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Source of the word "tantalize"
Son of Zeus and king of Sipylos who abused the guest-host relationship and was "tantalized" with hunger and thirst. |
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| a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that are invisible to those unfit for their positions or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, "But he isn't wearing anything at all!" |
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| Something, as extravagant entertainment, offered as an expedient means of pacifying discontent or diverting attention from a source of grievance. A phrase used by a Roman writer to deplore the declining heroism of Romans. He said that all the people really desired was “bread and circuses” so the government kept the Romans happy by distributing free food and staging huge spectacles to entertain them. |
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| A criticism or insult disguised as a compliment. A compliment with two meanings, one of which is unflattering to the receiver. |
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| a person (a teacher, mentor or coach) who with evil intent manipulates another into doing what is desired. It is frequently used for any kind of coach who seems to exercise an extreme degree of domination over a performer (especially if the person is a young woman and the coach is an older man).The term has entered the media lexicon for an unaccountable but overridingly influential adviser to a political leader or candidate. |
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| a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth. (symbol of justice and power in Thailand and Burma. Sacred.) |
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English: "It does not follow"
a Latin term for a conversational and literary device, often used for comedic purposes. It is a comment that, because of its apparent lack of meaning relative to what it follows, seems absurd to the point of being humorous or confusing. |
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| The son of Daedalus who to escape imprisonment flies by means of artificial wings but falls into the sea and drowns when the wax of his wings melts as he flies too near the sun. It has come to refer to anyone who ignores warnings and risks his life in dangerous endeavors. |
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| the thesis that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. Generally proponents of the tabula rasa thesis favour the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to aspects of one's personality, social and emotional behavior, and intelligence. The term in Latin equates to the English "blank slate" (which refers to writing on a slate sheet in chalk). |
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| Damocles took Dionysius' place as a ruler, but had a sword placed over his head to show what it was really like. Damocles then decided to return to his poorer, but safer life. |
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A village in central Belgium, south of Brussels: Napoleon was decisively defeated here on
June 18, 1815.
We now refer to someone’s “waterloo” as a decisive or crushing defeat. |
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To occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis.
The source of this phrase is the story that Nero played the fiddle (violin) while Rome burned, during the great fire in AD 64. |
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A false ideal; money as an object of worship.
The Israelites made a golden calf to worship while Moses was on Mt. Sinai getting the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 22)
It now means an object used worshipped instead of a God. |
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| An acronym for the phrase not in my back yard. The term (or the derivative Nimbyism) is used pejoratively to describe opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development close to them. Opposing residents themselves are sometimes called Nimbies. |
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