Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions
E Webber and M Feinsilber , Eds.
Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1999.
Why read it? I bet you think reading dictionaries is a nerdish activity. Maybe so, but if you love language, you have to enjoy reading books that talk about words. In this review of allusions, you will find a rich assortment of indirect references, references assumed by writers to be understood by their readers and therefore unexplained. This dictionary is for the reader who does not understand an allusion. Spot an allusion you don't understand? Look it up in this book. Below is a very small number of examples of the many allusions that I did not recognize. Reading the allusions in this book is an education in itself.
"agitprop," propaganda spread through art
"Agonistes," inner conflicts
"Ahab and Jezebel," ancient king of Israel and his wife
"amen corner," uncritical followers
"amid alien corn," alone in alien surroundings
"anal retentive," overly conscientious
"Ancien regime," before the French Revolution
"Anschluss," forced annexation
"apparatchik," bureaucrat
"Armageddon," climactic battle between good and evil at the end of the world
"auto-de-fe," judgment and then execution
"Balkanize," break up into smaller hostile units
"barmecide feast," banquet without food
"beau geste," magnanimous gesture
"bell, book and candle," ritual of excommunication
See what I mean? This dictionary of allusions is a feast for word lovers.
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