Nessus shirt
(1) in greek mythology, the shirt given to hercules after the poisonous blood of the slain centaur nessus had been smeared on it .
(2) ‘ used allusively, to denote any destructive or expiatory force or influence.’ — oxford english dictionary {this dictionary is far and away the very best, the most complete dictionary of the english language. see www.oed.com }.
{from the oxford english dictionary}:
nessus, n.
{ ‘ used allusively in compounds and phrases (as nessus-robe, nessus shirt; nessus’ shirt, shirt of nessus), to denote any destructive or expiatory force or influence. }
etymology: < nessus (cl-ssical latin nessus, ancient greek νέσσος), the name of the centaur slain by hercules, in cl-ssical mythology, whose blood later poisoned hercules after he was given a garment smeared with it to wear. examples: (1) "a shirt with nike on it -- ok; a shirt with nessus on it -- not ok. no nessus shirt for me." -- d-nk-m (2) citations collected in the incomparable oxford english dictionary: 1616 shakespeare. "antony & cleopatra" (1623) iv. xiii. 43 the shirt of nessus is vpon me. 1664 thomas killigrew. "parsons wedding" v. iv, in comedies & trag. 153 take it; would 'twere nessus his shirt, for you and your poets sake. 1835 thomas carlyle. "lett. to his wife" (1953) 108 it is now almost my sole rule of life: to clear myself of cants and formulas, as of poisonous nessus' shirts. 1905 s. j. weyman. "starvecrow farm" xxxii. 297 remorse is the very shirt of nessus. it is of all mental pains the worst. 1924 robert graves. "mock beggar hall" 10 the nessus-robe that beauties wear, burning away their beauty. 1957 edith sitwell. "coll. poems" 414 then the heart that was the burning-bush may change to a nessus-robe of flame. 1980 patrick o'brian. "surgeon's mate" vi. 177 a nessus' shirt might be more apt.
Read Also:
- Streg
to be in a stroppy or general bad mood. going into a corner and sulking .is said to be in a streg noun: a person who is always in a bad mood example from “the sopranos” s02e01 – tony to his sister janice about their mother “she’s a streg, she’s the devil.”
- String Bass
a large string instrument which plays very low tones and is, colloquially put, a b-tch to carry around. the b-ss players have one of the hardest jobs in an orchestra, because they must keep a steady beat (to prevent the violins from speeding up or slowing down), but they must also change their tempo if […]
- striped dick
a british cake with twizzlers on it (hence the name striped d-ck) i tried it once it was really good kid: i brought striped d-ck for the cl-ss! teacher: ew get the f-ck out of here perv!
- Stripper vs Sex Slave
strippers are easiest of all people to make fun of. one man decided to crop a pole for those spiritually lazy blobs, they would look uttermost fattied for eternity. life for a woman without someone giving them a pole to fit for thier trouble? well, eating a lot of sweets & fatty buildup. uncontaneable gymb-mbs […]
- Strobelighter
the man/woman you meet at the club or some other dimly lit activity, think s/he looks good, then see it’s a different story when the lights come on. i thought i met this good-looking guy at the club, but when they turned on the lights he turned out to be a strobelighter.