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Joʹnas

,

in Dryden’s satire of Absalom and Achitophel, is meant for Sir William Jones, Attorney-General, who conducted the prosecution of the Popish Plot (June 25th, 1674); not the great Oriental scholar, who lived 1746–1794. The attorney-general was called in the satire Jonas by a palpable pun.

Not bull-faced Jonas, who could statutes draw

To mean rebellion and make treason law.”


Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel, part i. 520, 521.

 

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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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Join the Majority
Joint
Jolly
Jolly Dog (A)
Jolly God (The)
Jolly Good Fellow (A)
Jolly Green
Jolly Roger (The)
Jollyboat
Jonah and the Whale
Jonas
Jonathan
Jonathan and David
Jonathan’s
Jonathan’s Arrows
Jonc (French)
Joncs
Jordan Passed
Jordeloo
Jormungandar
Josaphat