49 - A book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom

[KF-in-Georgia]

"Foregone conclusion" is from Othello. http://www.pathguy.com/shakeswo.html

Also, "one that loved not wisely but too well." And "Wear my heart upon my sleeve."

[Milena]

I think also maybe "crocodile tears" is from Othello.

[Heather L]

Milena wrote: "I haven't seen The Prince mentioned. If Kafkaesque and Lovecraftian count, surely Macchiavellian does also? What do you all think? I am really trying to get out of reading Catch-22 thi..."

I think it works, and thank you for helping me tick off another box. Finished it earlier this week for a group read, and was trying to figure out how I could make it fit. Inspired idiom definitely works!

[Sarah]

I recon you could also use any fairytale, seeing that they all start with "Once upon a time...."

[*Dawn]

poshpenny wrote: "Theresa wrote: "It also opens A Wrinkle in Time which is how most of us know and use it"

Nope. I know it from Peanuts. It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Snoopy"

lol That's funny! I was trying to remember the kids' show where that came up. I was thinking Gilligan's Island, but you're right. It was Peanuts.

Found these other phrases inspired by the author of Paul Clifford...
Paul Clifford was written by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), an English politician, poet, playwright, and successful novelist. In a career spanning more than forty years he wrote a stream of novels which were read widely in the English-speaking world. He coined the phrases, "the great unwashed", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", and the famous opening line from Paul Clifford, "It was a dark and stormy night."

[Sherri]

I read 1984 because I could come up with nothing else. I am glad I read it only because it is a classic. I didn’t enjoy it. The good news is I finished the advanced prompts. I have 4 prompts left in the regular challenge.

[Randi]

I need a graphic novel for another challenge I am doing. I found Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde from the Classics Illustrated Series from our library on Hoopla so I can kill 2 birds with one stone.

[Sarah]

I just finished reading The Jungle Book (for the phrase "law of the jungle") because I had never read it before and it was great! I highly recommend it!

[Bethany]

Utopia By Thomas More interesting that we more often hear the word Dystopian!

[Nadine in NY]

Bethany wrote: "Utopia By Thomas More interesting that we more often hear the word Dystopian!"

was it good? I've never read a book that old! did he also coin the word "dystopia"?

[Bethany]

I havent finished it yet just started it! Since his book was about a perfect society I think people just named the opposite of that dystopia. It doesnt seem like any particular author coined dystopia from what I can find in my preliminary Google search.

[Stina]

Would "my man Friday" from Robinson Crusoe count?

[Zoe]

Would anything from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? qualify for this?

[Jackie]

I read Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit. The term "mansplaining" was coined from the titular essay.

[KF-in-Georgia]

Stina wrote: "Would "my man Friday" from Robinson Crusoe count?"

Absolutely. People who hear that phrase think of Robinson Crusoe--and nothing else--and they know what the phrase means.

[Cendaquenta]

Just finished a reread of Jurassic Park and realised it'd count for this!



(And "You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you didn't stop to think if you should.")

[poshpenny]

Bethany wrote: "Utopia By Thomas More interesting that we more often hear the word Dystopian!"

And it's short! We may have a winner.

1516? And I thought Don Quixote messed with my time graph haha

[Laura]

poshpenny wrote: "Bethany wrote: "Utopia By Thomas More interesting that we more often hear the word Dystopian!"

And it's short! We may have a winner.

1516? And I thought Don Quixote messed with my time graph haha"

Ha I did both The Odyssey and The Aeneid for the challenge this year so my time graph is completely unreadable now!

[Cendaquenta]

Laura wrote: "Ha I did both The Odyssey and The Aeneid for the challenge this year so my time graph is completely unreadable now! "

Same - I read some Sappho poems. Now it's ordered in increments of 500 years. 🙃

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

My time graph will never recover from my reading The Art of War...

[poshpenny]

OH man, yours all look like the surface of the ocean and a rock on the bottom of the Mariana Trench! I wish it were adjustable.

[Cendaquenta]

poshpenny wrote: "OH man, yours all look like the surface of the ocean and a rock on the bottom of the Mariana Trench! I wish it were adjustable."

LOL, brilliant way to put it. 😄
Wish we could "like" posts on here. In lieu of that: 👍

[Lori]

I read a book entitled On the Same Page since this is an idiom would it count for this prompt?

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

Lori wrote: "I read a book entitled On the Same Page since this is an idiom would it count for this prompt?"

Not unless it was the first one to make the idiom popular! (Unless, of course, you're intentionally stretching the prompt to just be any book that includes an idiom.)

[Lori]

Guess then Raquel it probably wouldn't count. Will look through the questions and responses to see what others are looking at.

Thank you for your answer.

[Michelle]

I'm having a difficult time with this one. Not really feeling Shakespeare, rereading 1984, and I read Catch-22 last year. This might be stretching it, as I don't know how common the phrase is, but would any one consider The Turn of the Screw by Henry James a fit for this prompt? I'm reading it for another challenge and was thinking it could be used here.

[Lynette]

Michelle wrote: "I'm having a difficult time with this one. Not really feeling Shakespeare, rereading 1984, and I read Catch-22 last year. This might be stretching it, as I don't know how common the phrase is, but ..."

I certainly think The Turn of the Screw counts. While the concept of getting screwed (messed up, versus sexual slang) is much older than James' novel, and the term "turnscrew" referring to jailkeepers/guards was also around long before James, searching around finds no earlier reference to the actual phrase we're all very familiar with now, of "the turn of the screw." Go for it!

[Grace]

I read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the saying : “There’s no place like home.”
(Actually I listened to the audiobook narrated by Anne Hathaway, and it was great to listen to)

[Monica]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Won...

However, a song with the lyrics "there's no place like home" was composed in 1823.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home!_S...!

So I'm not sure if The Wonderful Wizard of Oz counts as having "inspired a common phrase or idiom."

[Sue]

I read Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift for the term 'Lilliputian', but then also discovered that this book is the origin of the term 'yahoo', meaning a rude, loud, unpleasant person of little education. There is a tribe of yahoos in the book which disgusts Gulliver so much that he is unable to face his own people when he returns home. Didn't expect to learn as much as I did after finally reading this book!

[Linda]

Monica wrote: "So I'm not sure if The Wonderful Wizard of Oz counts as having "inspired a common phrase or idiom."


I know I have used the phrase "I think we're not in Kansas anymore".
I'm not sure if that was said in the book or only the movie, but if it's the latter, you could still make the argument that the book still inspired the phrase since the movie was based on the book.

[Monica]

Dorothy said, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQLNS...

Like Linda, I don't know if that was said in the book. But if it wasn't, then I wouldn't agree that since the book inspired the movie, it counts. That's because I'm thinking of someone who read the book but never saw the movie. If he/she were told that this sentence about Kansas was inspired by the book, he/she would say, "Huh? What are you talking about? I read the book, and nothing was said about them not being in Kansas anymore."

But I have a feeling that that sentence about Kansas WAS in the book, so if someone owns a copy and can verify that it is in the book, then yes, it's an excellent example of a book inspiring a phrase or idiom.

[Linda]

Monica wrote: "Dorothy said, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQLNS...

Like Linda, I don't know if that was said in the book. But if it wasn't, then I wouldn't ag..."

So many phrases/words from The Wizard of Oz, surely one must have been from the book. Some that come to mind: munchkins, wicked witch, flying monkeys, cowardly lion, man behind the curtain.. Even just the phrase "Land of Oz". I could see somebody using that to describe a place that seems very different than what they are used to.

[Linda]

I looked up the origins of "munchkins" and it does seem to have been made up by Frank Baum. And I certainly hear that word used often to describe children.

Here it is listed under "idioms" in the Free Dictionary: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/...

[L Y N N]

Honestly, I read that book earlier this year and it was so dull and lackluster I didn't even pay attention, but I don't recall any of those phrases/words we attribute to this from the movie being in the book. If I get a chance this week and remember, I'll skim and see what I can find. In my opinion, they did an amazing job with the movie since I felt it didn't resemble the book much, except for the overall story arc. And that is a good thing! The movie is much more enjoyable, IMHO!

[Monica]

While I don't think that "wicked witch" originated with The Wizard of Oz, as I recall there was a wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel, I agree that "munchkins" originated with The Wizard of Oz.

[Heather L]

Monica wrote: "Dorothy said, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...."

This is where having an ebook copy comes in handy—being able to easily search for phrases. The line is NOT in the book. Neither is “follow the yellow-brick road.” However, she DOES say, “There is no place like home.”

Oh, and no “flying” monkeys. In the book they are referred to as “Winged Monkeys.” No ruby slippers, either. They are silver in the book, and were changed to ruby for the movie to make them stand out more. “If I only had a brain” is also from the movie, not the book.

[Jonina]

I chose Robinson Crusoe. In Holland you can say: he’s a real Robinson.

[L Y N N]

Heather L wrote: "Monica wrote: "Dorothy said, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...."

This is where having an ebook copy comes in handy—being able to easily search for phrases. The line is NOT in the book..."

Thanks for checking, Heather L! I do realize instances such as this is where ebooks are definitely handy and efficient. I still can't stand reading from a device however! I imagine that if I live long enough I won't have much choice but to read from a device (thinking of failing vision and larger font size, etc.), but until then I intend to use that inborn stubborn streak! ;)

[Barbara]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for this one.

It's...weird. Just a bunch of mostly unconnected strange things happening. I had never read it before so I didn't realize how disjointed it is.

[SadieReadsAgain]

I went for Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie for this (Neverland, the boy who never grew up, Wendy house...the list is endless!). I never read this in childhood, but I also didn't grow up Disney. My Peter Pan experience was a beautiful pop-up book that I now know stuck closer to J. M. Barrie's story than Walt's version. It was such a joy to read the story and bring the pop-up illustrations to mind as I did. And I wasn't let down by the book, which can sometimes happen with such a well-known and adapted story. This is so much better than I could have imagined. The delicious nostalgia of that childhood dichotomy - of wanting unsupervised freedom, but also craving love and security - is tinged with a darker melancholia. My only complaint was Wendy's character, she was cloying and felt really one-dimensional, but I have to make allowances for the time... Still, seeing the roots of where my childhood obsession (the film Hook) came from more than made up for that, and stopped the ending breaking my heart quite so much.

[Chai]

I read 1984. I hated it, though...

[Lizzy]

I read The Shining.

[Beckett]

I think the term Lolita from the novel would count. The term is now synonymous with underage girl who is lusted after by older man. If you read it 😕 be prepared because it’s not like the movie. The kids he lists after are extremely young 🤮

[Jane]

Theresa wrote: "Tytti wrote: "Theresa wrote: "A Wrinkle in Time - it was a dark and stormy night"

That comes from Paul Clifford."

It also opens A Wrinkle in Time whi..."

But I think the point is that it was already known so its use in A Wrinkle in Time was definitely a reference to a phrase that had been used over and over again and was therefore a joke.

[Erika]

I'm wondering if The Turn of the Screw might count for this? I just read it and was wondering if it would fit here, what do people think?

[Darlene]

Erika wrote: "I'm wondering if The Turn of the Screw might count for this? I just read it and was wondering if it would fit here, what do people think?"

Upthread, someone detailed how it was the first book to use that exact phrasing, so I think you are good to go!

[Sherri]

"Of Mice and Men" "Living off the fat of the land" is a common phrase in this book. I read it for this prompt.

[Joana]

[Carey]

Jess wrote: "With regards to "It was a dark and stormy night". I was sure that this phrase came from the poem The Highwayman. However, I just looked the poem up and it doesn't actually say this phrase. Here is ..."

I was obsessed with this one too, but I blame Anne of Green Gables. It's part of the movie, but I don't remember if it was also in the book.