Jamie123 Posted January 3, 2014 Report Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) Happy New Year everyone!I recently acquired a rather nice old copy of Aesop's Fables, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, and reading through it I couldn't help noticing how many common phrases are taken from it.So many of our idioms are taken either from either the Bible, Shakespeare or Aesop. All of the following are taken from one of the three, but can you say which is which?1. Shame the Devil2. Reap the Whirlwind3. Green Eyed Monster4. King Stork5. Pearly Gates6. Sour Grapes7. Fool's Paradise8. Wild Goose Chase9. Take the Lion's Share10. Guild the Lily11. Blow hot and cold12. Feet of Clay13. Pearls Before Swine14. Goose that lays the Golden Eggs15. Foregone conclusion16. Short Shrift17. Clutching a viper to your bosom18. Hoisted with your own petard19. Household Words20. Wheels within wheels21. Dog in a Manger(I'll post the answers in a couple of days - unless someone else gets there first!) Edited January 3, 2014 by Jamie123 Quote
Vort Posted January 3, 2014 Report Posted January 3, 2014 My guesses:Shakespeare1. Shame the Devil2. Reap the Whirlwind3. Green Eyed Monster5. Pearly Gates7. Fool's Paradise8. Wild Goose Chase10. Guild [should be "gild"] the Lily11. Blow hot and cold15. Foregone conclusion16. Short Shrift18. Hoisted [should be "hoist"] with your own petard19. Household Words20. Wheels within wheelsBible12. Feet of Clay13. Pearls Before SwineAesop4. King Stork6. Sour Grapes9. Take the Lion's Share14. Goose that lays the Golden Eggs17. Clutching a viper to your bosom21. Dog in a Manger Quote
Roseslipper Posted January 3, 2014 Report Posted January 3, 2014 Hi James and Happy New Year To you and your family!! :) Quote
Vort Posted January 4, 2014 Report Posted January 4, 2014 Oops. I skipped right over #2, Reap the Whirlwind. That's a Biblical phrase. Quote
Jamie123 Posted January 6, 2014 Author Report Posted January 6, 2014 (edited) Thanks very much Vort - you got nearly all of them right (though some are debatable):1. Shame the Devil - ShakespeareHenry IV pt. 1, Act III, Scene 1: "And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil by telling truth: tell truth and shame the devil".2. Reap the Whirlwind - The BibleHosea 8:7: "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up."3. Green Eyed Monster - ShakespeareOthello, Act III, Scene 3: "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock" (Also in The Merchant of Venice Portia talks about "green-eyed envy".)4. King Stork - AesopThe fable of Zeus and the frogs. (Disliking the "king" Zeus has given them - namely a log - the frogs demand a more active ruler. Zeus gives them one in the form of a large stork, which proceeds to eat them.)5. Pearly Gates - The BibleRevelation 21:21: "The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass."6. Sour Grapes - DebatableIn Aesop's fable of the fox and the grapes, the fox disdains as "sour" the grapes he is unable to reach. Some people however claim it comes from Jeremiah 31:30: "Instead, those who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge; and everyone will die because of their own sin." (For what it's worth I think the Aesop is more in line with the current usage of the phrase.)7. Fool's Paradise - ShakespeareRomeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 4: "But first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her in a fool’s paradise..."8. Wild Goose Chase - ShakespeareRomeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 4 (again): "Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I have done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five."9. Take the Lion's Share - AesopThe fable of the lion and the other beasts. (Having caught their quarry as a team, the beasts are forced by the lion to give him most of the meat.)10. Gild the Lily - ShakespeareMisquotation of King John, Act IV, Scene 2: "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet" (Thanks for the correction Vort - I used the wrong sort of "Guild".)11. Blow hot and cold - AesopThe fable of the satyr and the man. (The man blows on his hands to warm them, and on his porridge to cool it down.)12. Feet of Clay - The BibleDaniel 2:33: "His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay."13. Pearls Before Swine - The BibleMatthew 7:6: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."14. Goose that lays the Golden Eggs - AesopThe fable of the magical goose (Or a hen in some versions. Noticing that the eggs laid by a particular hen/goose contain gold, the greedy man kills it in the hope of acquiring the motherlode. The bird, once dead, turns out to be no different from any other.)15. Foregone conclusion - ShakespeareOthello, Act III, Scene 3: "But this denoted a foregone conclusion: 'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream."16. Short Shrift - ShakespeareRichard III, Act III, Scene 4: "Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner: Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head."17. Clutching a viper to your bosom - AesopThe fable of the viper and the farmer. (The farmer, seeing a freezing snake, picks it up and warms it against his bosom. The snake bites him and he dies.)18. Hoisted (or Hoist) with (or on/by) your own petard - ShakespeareMisquotation of Hamlet Act III, Scene 4: "For ’tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petar(d)". The exact interpretation is debated - a "petard" was a primative artillery device for breaking castle walls, but "petar" and "hoist" (as opposed to "hoisted") arguably refer to something a bit more vulgar. Either way, the metaphor is the same - to receive the ill-effects of your own malice. 19. Household Words - ShakespeareHenry V, Act IV Scene 3: "Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages What feats he did that day: then shall our names. Familiar in his mouth as household words Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd."20. Wheels within wheels - The BibleEzekiel 1:16: "Their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel". (I'll always associate this phrase with the Rush song Natural Science, which is where I first encountered it: "Wheels within wheels in a spiral array / A pattern so grand and complex / Time after time we lose sight of the way / Our causes can't see their effects".)21. Dog in a Manger - AesopAesop's fable of the animals' feeding time. (The animals want to eat, but are prevented from doing so by the dog who sits in the manger and bites them if they come near.)I should have thought to have added "This is the stuff dreams are made of". I always thought this was a misquotation The Tempest where Prospero says to Ferdinand and Miranda "We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep". But surfing online I find it is a genuine quotation of Humphrey Bogart's character in The Maltese Falcon (though I daresay this is itself a misquotation of Shakespeare). Edited January 7, 2014 by Jamie123 Quote
Jamie123 Posted January 6, 2014 Author Report Posted January 6, 2014 Hi James and Happy New Year To you and your family!! :)Hi Rose - and Happy New Year to you too! Hope you had a great holiday! Quote
Blackmarch Posted January 6, 2014 Report Posted January 6, 2014 (edited) Happy New Year everyone!I recently acquired a rather nice old copy of Aesop's Fables, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, and reading through it I couldn't help noticing how many common phrases are taken from it.So many of our idioms are taken either from either the Bible, Shakespeare or Aesop. All of the following are taken from one of the three, but can you say which is which?1. Shame the Devil2. Reap the Whirlwind3. Green Eyed Monster4. King Stork5. Pearly Gates6. Sour Grapes7. Fool's Paradise8. Wild Goose Chase9. Take the Lion's Share10. Guild the Lily11. Blow hot and cold12. Feet of Clay13. Pearls Before Swine14. Goose that lays the Golden Eggs15. Foregone conclusion16. Short Shrift17. Clutching a viper to your bosom18. Hoisted with your own petard19. Household Words20. Wheels within wheels21. Dog in a Manger(I'll post the answers in a couple of days - unless someone else gets there first!)Happy new years k without looking at the rest of the posts heres my guesses;Bible- 1. Shame the Devil2. Reap the Whirlwind3. Green Eyed Monster5. Pearly Gates 10. Guild the Lily11. Blow hot and cold12. Feet of Clay13. Pearls Before Swine17. Clutching a viper to your bosom20. Wheels within wheelsShakespeare7. Fool's Paradise8. Wild Goose Chase15. Foregone conclusion16. Short Shrift18. Hoisted with your own petardAesops-4. King Stork6. Sour Grapes14. Goose that lays the Golden Eggs21. Dog in a Manger Edited January 6, 2014 by Blackmarch Quote
Jamie123 Posted January 7, 2014 Author Report Posted January 7, 2014 Happy new years k without looking at the rest of the posts heres my guesses;Bible- 1. Shame the Devil2. Reap the Whirlwind3. Green Eyed Monster5. Pearly Gates 10. Guild the Lily11. Blow hot and cold12. Feet of Clay13. Pearls Before Swine17. Clutching a viper to your bosom20. Wheels within wheelsShakespeare7. Fool's Paradise8. Wild Goose Chase15. Foregone conclusion16. Short Shrift18. Hoisted with your own petardAesops-4. King Stork6. Sour Grapes14. Goose that lays the Golden Eggs21. Dog in a MangerAll perfectly correct apart from (3) and (10) which is Shakespeare, and (11) and (17) which are Aesop :) Quote
Traveler Posted January 7, 2014 Report Posted January 7, 2014 What I find interesting and fascinating are teachings (doctrines if you will) that are recorded in non-scripture texts that are more ancient than the texts utilized in scripture - yet it is believed by most touting a religion, that such scripture texts is the source.The Traveler Quote
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