- skip - Brewer’s

Shield

.

The Gold and Silver Shield. Two knights coming from different directions stopped in sight of a trophy shield, one side of which was gold and the other silver. Like the disputants about the colour of the chameleon, the knights disputed about the metal of the shield, and from words they proceeded to blows. Luckily a third knight came up at this juncture, to whom the point of dispute was referred, and the disputants were informed that the shield was silver on one side and gold on the other. This story is from Beaumont’s Moralities. It was reprinted in a collection of Useful and Entertaining Passages in Prose, 1826.

The other side of the shield. The other side of the question. The reference is to the “Gold and Silver Shield.” (See above.)

That depends on which side of the shield you look at. That depends on the standpoint of the speaker. (See above.)

 

previous entry · index · next entry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

previous entry · index · next entry

Shepherd’s Sundial (The)
Shepherded
Sheppard (Jack)
Shepster Time
Sheriffmuir
Sheva
Shewbread
Shewri-while
Shiahs
Shibboleth
Shield
Shield-of-Arms
Shield of Expectation (The)
Shields
Shi-ites
Shillelagh (pronounce she-lay-lah)
Shilling
Shilly Shally
Shimei
Shinar
Shindy

Linking here:

Buckler