| 词组 | gild the lily |
| 释义 | gild the lily This idiomatic phrase is cited as a misquotation by many commentators, who point out that the passage in Shakespeare's King John (1597) from which it is derived actually reads: • To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet, Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. Of course, those who use gild the lily are not actually quoting Shakespeare or anyone else—they are simply using an established idiom in a familiar way: • To gild the lily, the food and service are virtually as good as the setting —Malcolm S. Forbes, Forbes, 1 June 1967 • An appeals court, gilding the lily of nonsense, agreed —George F. Will, Newsweek, 21 July 1986 Gild the lily has probably had more success as an idiom than paint the lily because the repeated of gild and lily gives it a more memorable sound. You can, of course, use paint the lily if you like, but we doubt that Shakespeare would insist on it. |
| 随便看 |
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。