Tagged Questions
15
votes
4answers
388 views
Meaning of “medicine bringeth double care when the malady is past cure”
It's a proverb from John Lyly 'Euphues: the Anatomy of Wit, does anybody know what does it mean?
Search the wound while it is green; too late cometh the salve when the sore
festereth, and the ...
13
votes
2answers
284 views
Meaning of “cry creek” and “cock of the game”
I'm reading an excerpt from John Lyly (1554–1606), and there are some phrases that I can't find anything about on the net or elsewhere. Here is the context:
Though Cutio be as hot as a toast, yet ...
6
votes
2answers
774 views
What does “in the sere and yellow” mean?
I am currently reading "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle. On page 33 is a sentence I don't understand:
Well, if a man can stride four and a-half feet without the smallest effort, he can't ...
4
votes
2answers
101 views
What is the meaning of “pole of time” here?
In the translation of a story by Daniil Kharms, I see the following sentence:
Thirty-five poles of time elapsed and mine host brought Ivan Ivanovich his entrecote on a round wooden platter.
Two ...
5
votes
2answers
105 views
What does the phrase “a fine one” mean in this context?
In one one Daniil Kharms' short stories, Tikakeyev “insults” Koratygin by saying:
A fine one you are!
This causes a fight between the two. When I first read this, I didn't see the “insult”, ...
