| 单词 | the emperor's clothes |
| 释义 | > as lemmasthe emperor's (new) clothes P2. the emperor's (new) clothes and variants [after the title of the story Kejserens nye klæder (1837) by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, first translated into English as The Emperor's New Clothes in 1846 (see quot. 1846)] : used allusively to describe a situation in which people believe or pretend to believe that something is real, good, important, etc., when it is plainly not, or in which they fear pointing out an obvious truth which is counter to accepted opinions. Hence in similar allusive phrases. In the story by Hans Christian Andersen, the emperor is tricked into thinking he is wearing beautiful new clothes, which all the courtiers pretend to admire, until a little boy points out that he is naked.In quot. 1868 referring (humorously) to nakedness. ΚΠ 1846 C. Peachey tr. H. C. Andersen Danish Fairy Legends & Tales 166 All the people standing by..cried out, ‘Oh! how beautiful are our Emperor's new clothes!’] 1868 W. A. Croffut & J. M. Morris Mil. & Civil Hist. Connecticut xxxvii. 641 Any officer who wished to indulge in the luxury of a clean shirt was obliged to sit in garments of the same texture as ‘the emperor's new clothes’ while his single shift was going through the ‘laundry’. 1888 Murray's Mag. July 402 Some day, perhaps, it will be as in the old fable, and a bold person will come forward and say, ‘But after all the Emperor has no clothes’. 1896 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 526/1 No one dared to open their mouths concerning her love-affairs; and even when she openly flaunted them, they acted the part of the emperor's new clothes. 1934 Washington Post 3 Apr. 9/5 Far too many eager spirits have been looking at the merits of certain modern poets as the crowd looked at the emperor's new clothes. 1957 London Calling 10 Jan. 15/2 We have had a visit from Berthold Brecht's company from East Berlin—which made rather an ‘emperor's clothes’ situation: the people loudest in praise of this company..could not always understand a word being spoken on the stage! 1970 A. Price Labyrinth Makers xiii. 170 Dignity and reputation were like the Emperor's Clothes—a mere self-confidence trick. 1988 J. Trefil Dark Side of Universe i. 18 It was he [sc. Copernicus] who pointed out that the emperor's clothes might be missing, so that after him everyone came to see geocentrism as just an assumption. 2012 Daily Mail (Nexis) 19 May It is..likely to provide further fuel to critics who see much of modern art as a case of the ‘emperor's new clothes’. < as lemmas |
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