Dictionary of Historical Allusions and Eponyms

Short shrift has its origins in the public executions of Renaissance times, when the impatience of the crowd for the main event led to cutting short the last rites performed for the condemned, known as shriving or shrift. Whipping boy originally referred to a boy chosen as companion for a young prince, who would be caned when the prince deserved punishment. The Dictionary of Historical Allusions and Eponyms records the rich and engaging stories behind the history of over 550 words and phrases such as these. Drawing upon historical allusions from sources as varied as the courts of ancient Egypt, the battlefields of Europe, the pirate ships of the Caribbean, and the corridors of American politics, this dictionary provides the contemporary meaning as well as the history of each term or phrase.