Phrases – Page 2 – Interesting Literature

The Curious Meaning and Origin of ‘Et Tu, Brute?’

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle explores the curious meanings of Julius Caesar’s ‘dying words’

Let’s kick off this week’s Secret Library column with a short quiz about those three famous words: ‘Et tu, Brute?’ Okay, if you’re ready …

Question 1): Which famous Roman emperor uttered these words when he was stabbed by conspirators? Question 2): In which 1590s play does the utterance ‘Et tu, Brute?’ make its debut in drama? And Question 3): What was the definite meaning of Julius Caesar’s utterance, ‘Et tu, Brute?’

If you answered ‘Julius Caesar’ to either 1) or 2), sorry: you’re wrong.

The Meaning and Origin of ‘Age Cannot Wither Her, Nor Custom Stale Her Infinite Variety’

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle analyses one of the most famous lines from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra

‘Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety’: these words are among the most well-known and oft-quoted from William Shakespeare’s late tragedy, Antony and Cleopatra, about the love affair between Mark Antony and the Queen of Egypt. But what precisely do these lines mean? There’s more to them than meets the eye. So, in the tradition of these Friday Secret Library columns, let’s probe the words a little more closely.

A Summary and Analysis of the Fable of ‘The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ is a well-known phrase and a well-known fable. Most people would attribute the fable to Aesop, the master fabulist of classical times. However, was we will discuss later on in our analysis of this story, this is inaccurate.

The Meaning and Origin of the Phrase ‘All That Glitters Is Not Gold’

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle explores the meaning – and literary origins – of a well-known phrase

‘All that glitters is not gold’. Who gave us that famous expression? William Shakespeare? Thomas Gray? That prolific but elusive author, ‘Anon’?

The Interesting Meaning and History of the Phrase ‘Raining Cats and Dogs’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

A few days ago, we delved into the curious origins and meaning of the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’. That got us thinking about another popular feline phrase, ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’. We all know the rough meaning of the phrase: namely, if it’s raining cats and dogs, it’s raining heavily, the heavens have opened, it’s torrential out there, and so on.