SAT ALLUSIONS #6

Mrs. Stultz APLANG

Philistines/Philistinism

the Bible, the Old Testament, the Philistines were enemies of the Israelites, David, giant philistin warrior, Goliath

-a person with no appreciation for culture and whose tastes are commonplace

Faust/Faustian Bargain

plays by Christopher Marlow (Dr. Faustus) and Goethe (Faust), Mephistopheles, sells his soul, have everything he desires, despair

-refers to sacrificing one’s self or one’s values in exchange for getting what one desires, often material wealth

Coals to Newcastle

coal mining city in England, superfluous

-giving a superfluous gift or making a contribution that is gratuitous and unneccessary

Freudian Slip

Sigmund Freud, Austrian physician and psychotherapist, subconcious mind in human behavior

-an unintentional or accidental error in speech or action that reveals one’s subconscious thoughts or desires

Sisyphus/Sisypherian

Greek mythology, King Nho offended Zeus, Hades, rolling a giant boulder up a hill, roll back down to the bottom, start his task over

-a seemingly endless perhaps futile task

Methuselah

oldest of the patriarchs in the Bible, 969 years old

-refers to an extremely old person

Scylla and Charybdis

Greek mythology, many-headed sea monster, cave on one side of a narrow strait, whirlpool on the opposite side of the strait, steer their ships very carefully between the two

-between two equal dangers, avoiding one means getting closer to the other

Holy Grail

Medieval legend, object of quest, cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, perfection

-extremely desirable or valuable, long and difficult quest

Luddites

British laborers in the early 1800s, threaten their jobs, smashed textile machinery

-opposes change, especially industrial or technological advances

Pass the Buck

In poker, marker that was passed to the person whose turn it was to deal, Harry Truman

-shift responsibility (and often blame) to another person

Babylon

capital of the ancient Babylonian Empire, luxury and corruption, Jews were exiled, the prophet Daniel

-place of decadence and corruption

Pheonix

mythological bird, one of a kind, five or six hundred years, burn itself to death and then rise from its ashes

-symbolize rebirth or resurrection, surmounting great obstacles

Xanadu

Magnolia, Mongol emperor of China, Kublai Khan, magnificent residence, poem “Kubla Khan” (1816) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

-magnificent, beautiful, almost magical place

Muckrakers

President Theodore Roosevelt, reform-minded journalists, muckraker, badge of honor, exposed corruption or promoted needed reforms

-authors or journalists, expose corruption

Sine qua non

Latin, without which, nothing

-essential ingredient without which, would be impossible

Marauder

raider, intruder

Emit

to send or give out, to express, utter

Engulf

to surround or enclose completely

Umbrage

sense of injury or insult, to take offense, displeasure

Rudimentary

basic, crude, undeveloped, fundamental principles or skills

Abridge

to shorten, to condense, to diminish, to curtail

Fester

to generate pus, to become a source of resentment or irritation

Entomb

to place in or as if in a tomb, or a grave

Abominate

extreme hatred, loathing something despised

Rivet

something that fastens two parts together, also to hold the attention of