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To The Nines
"To the nines" is an idiom meaning "to perfection" or "to the highest degree". In modern English usage, the phrase most commonly appears as "dressed to the nines" or "dressed up to the nines". Origin The phrase is said to be Scots in origin. The earliest written example of the phrase is from the 1719 ''Epistle to Ramsay'' by the Scottish poet William Hamilton: The bonny Lines therein thou sent me, How to the nines they did content me. Robert Burns' "Poem on Pastoral Poetry", published in 1791, also uses the phrase: Thou paints auld nature to the nines, In thy sweet Caledonian lines. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (New and Revised edition. 1981) states that the phrase is 'perhaps a corruption of 'then eyne' (to the eyes)" The phrase may have originally been associated with the Nine Worthies or the nine Muses. A poem from a 17th century collection of works by John Rawlet John Rawlet or Rawlett (27 March 1642–28 September 1686) was an English Anglican cleric, k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Idiom
An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. Idioms occur frequently in all languages; in English alone there are an estimated twenty-five million idiomatic expressions. Derivations Many idiomatic expressions were meant literally in their original use, but sometimes the attribution of the literal meaning changed and the phrase itself grew away from its original roots—typically leading to a folk etymology. For instance, the phrase "spill the beans" (meaning to reveal a secret) is first attested in 1919, but has been said to originate from an ancient method of voting by depositing beans in jars, which could be spilled, prematurely revealing the results. Other idioms are deliberately figurative. For example, "break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scots Language
Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly spoken in the Scottish Lowlands, Northern Isles and northern Ulster, it is sometimes called Lowland Scots or Broad Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Goidelic Celtic language that was historically restricted to most of the Scottish Highlands, the Hebrides and Galloway after the 16th century. Modern Scots is a sister language of Modern English, as the two diverged independently from the same source: Early Middle English (1150–1300). Scots is recognised as an indigenous language of Scotland, a regional or minority language of Europe, as well as a vulnerable language by UNESCO. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Scottish Census, over 1.5 million people in Scotland reported being able to speak Scots. As there are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Hamilton (comic Poet)
William Hamilton (1665? – 24 May 1751) was a Scottish people, Scottish poet. He wrote comic, mock-tragic poetry such as "''The Last Dying Words of Bonny Heck''" - a once-champion hare coursing greyhound in the East Neuk of Fife who was about to be hanged, for growing too slow. It is written in anglified Scots, with a sprightly narrative and wry comic touches. Life Hamilton was born in Gilbertfield Castle, Gilbertfield, Cambuslang, Scotland. In the ''Familiar Epistles'' he exchanged with Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), Allan Ramsay, he modestly acknowledges the limitations of his own muse. Ramsay singles out ''Heck'' as he suggests there is room for all sorts in poetry. Ramsay's ''Epistles'' in return are certainly more skillful, more self-consciously Scots and with lots more allusions to other authors, Ancient and Modern, but they are consequently, less direct than those of Hamilton. Another of Hamilton's poems, ''Willie was a Wanton Wag'', - about a young man who appears at a we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nine Worthies
The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary men of distinction who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly referred to as 'Princes', regardless of their historical titles. In French they are called ''Les Neuf Preux'' or "Nine Valiants", giving a more specific idea of the moral virtues they exemplified: those of soldierly courage and generalship. In Italy they are ''i Nove Prodi''. The Nine Worthies include three pagans (Hector, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar), three Jews (Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus) and three Christians (King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon). Origin They were first described in the early fourteenth century, by Jacques de Longuyon in his ''Voeux du Paon'' (1312). Their selection, as Johan Huizinga pointed out, betrays a close connection with the romance genre of chivalry. Neatly divided into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muses
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture. Melete, Aoede, and Mneme are the original Boeotian Muses, and Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania are the nine Olympian Muses. In modern figurative usage, a Muse may be a source of artistic inspiration. Etymology The word ''Muses'' ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai) perhaps came from the o-grade of the Proto-Indo-European root (the basic meaning of which is 'put in mind' in verb formations with transitive function and 'have in mind' in those with intransitive function), or from root ('to tower, mountain') since all the most important cult-centres of the Muses were on mountains or hills. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Rawlet
John Rawlet or Rawlett (27 March 1642–28 September 1686) was an English Anglican cleric, known as a preacher and writer of religious literature, and for his close sympathy with Presbyterians. Life Baptised at Tamworth in Warwickshire on 27 March 1642, Rawlet was religiously inclined from a young age. He matriculated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge on 15 December 1659. Prevented by poverty from proceeding to an ordinary degree, he later obtained the degree of Bachelor of Divinity on 23 June 1676, with a royal mandate of Charles II. After taking holy orders, and engaging in clerical work in London, Rawlet was before 1671 settled in the north), acting for a short while as chaplain to John Wilkins, the bishop of Chester from 1668. In 1670 Rawlet let Richard Baxter know that Wilkins had succeeded with John Tilsley, an ejected minister of local prominence, in efforts to have him conform to the Church of England. At this period Rawlet mentioned to Baxter rumours of preferments that he co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
