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Handkerchief and Sword

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With handkerchief in one hand and sword in the other. Pretending to be sorry at a calamity, but prepared to make capital out of it.

“Abbé George … . mentions in [a letter] that ‘Maria Theresa stands with the handkerchief in one hand, weeping for the woes of Poland, but with the sword in the other hand, ready to cut Poland in sections, and take her share.ʹ”—Carlyle: The Diamond Necklace, chap. iv.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Hand and Seal
Hand-in-Hand
Hand of Cards
Hand of Justice
Hand over Hand
Hand the Sail
Hand Down to Posterity (To)
Handfasting
Handicap
Handkerchief
Handkerchief and Sword
Handle
Handsome = liberal
Handwriting on the Wall (The)
Handycuffs
Hang Back (To)
Hang Fire (To)
Hang On (To)
Hang Out
Hangdog Look (A)
Hang by a Thread (To)