to gild refined gold, to paint the lily — Meaning Usually misquoted as to gild the lily . Origin From Shakespeare s King John … Meaning and origin of phrases
gild — I. /gɪld / (say gild) verb (t) (gilded or gilt, gilding) 1. to coat with gold, gold leaf, or gold coloured substance. 2. to give a bright, pleasing, or specious aspect to. 3. Obsolete to make red, as with blood. –phrase …
gild the lily — verb 1. adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful) • Syn: ↑paint the lily • Hypernyms: ↑decorate, ↑adorn, ↑grace, ↑ornament, ↑embellish, ↑beautify … Useful english dictionary
gild — to tell a lie about Literally, to cover thinly with gold, and perhaps alluding to that misquoted cliché gild the lily Shakespeare actually wrote to gild refined gold, to paint the lily {King John). In phrases such as gild the facts,… … How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms
gild the lily — The passage from Shakespeare’s King John is: To gild refined gold, to paint the lily ... Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. Thus it is both wrong and hackneyed to speak of gilding the lily in the sense of overdoing something … Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors
gild the lily — The passage from Shakespeare s King John is To gild refined gold, to paint the lily. . ./Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. Thus it is both wrong and resorting to a woeful cliche to speak of gilding the lily in the sense of overdoing something … Dictionary of troublesome word
gild the lily — meaning ‘to try to improve what is already as beautiful as it can be’, is a not quite accurate quotation from Shakespeare, King John iv.ii.11: To gilde refined Gold, to paint the Lilly; To throw a perfume on the Violet, [etc.] … Modern English usage
Redundance — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Redundance >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 redundance redundance Sgm: N 1 too much too much too many Sgm: N 1 superabundance superabundance superfluity superfluence| saturation Sgm: N 1 nimiety nimiety … English dictionary for students
List of misquotations — A famous misquotation is a well known phrase attributed to someone who either did not actually say it in that form of words, or did not say it at all. It may not be known how these phrases came about, but when possible, their type of origin is… … Wikipedia
processed — adjective 1. subjected to a special process or treatment (Freq. 1) prepared ergot processed cheeses are easy to spread • Similar to: ↑prepared 2. freed from impurities by processing refined sugar refined oil … Useful english dictionary
gilded — 1560s (late O.E. had gegylde); in modern use the more dignified pp. of GILD (Cf. gild) (q.v.). Shakespeare s lilies were never gilded; the quote ( King John, iv.2) is, To gild refined gold, to paint the lily … Etymology dictionary
