| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Stealing Someone's Thunder | playwright |
| Stealing Someone's Thunder | sound effect of rattling a sheet of tin to mimic thunder |
| Stealing Someone's Thunder | widely copied |
| Stealing Someone's Thunder | take credit for the idea of another |
| Stealing Someone's Thunder | lessen the effect |
| Stealing Someone's Thunder | suggesting the same idea first |
| Witch Hunt | 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts |
| Witch Hunt | hysteria |
| Witch Hunt | flimsy evidence |
| Witch Hunt | campaign against a particular group of people |
| Witch Hunt | unorthodox opinions |
| Witch Hunt | unconventional manner |
| Throw Down the Gauntlet | knighthood and chivalry |
| Throw Down the Gauntlet | challenge another knight to a duel |
| Throw Down the Gauntlet | heavy glove |
| Throw Down the Gauntlet | issuing a challenge |
| Throw Down the Gauntlet | dramatic manner |
| The Muses | Greek mythology |
| The Muses | nine goddesses |
| The Muses | the arts |
| The Muses | inspiration to mortals |
| The Muses | epic |
| The Muses | source of inspiration |
| The Muses | artistic, creative endeavors |
| Kafkaesque | Franz Kafka |
| Kafkaesque | writer |
| Kafkaesque | surreal, anxiety producing |
| Kafkaesque | The Metamorphosis |
| Kafkaesque | bizarre |
| Kafkaesque | surreal |
| Kafkaesque | anxiety-producing |
| Tower of Babel | Book of Genesis |
| Tower of Babel | tower that would reach Heaven itself |
| Tower of Babel | different languages |
| Tower of Babel | could not understand each other |
| Tower of Babel | noisy confusion |
| Pollyanna | character in children's stories |
| Pollyanna | play the "glad game" |
| Pollyanna | find something to be glad about in any situation, no matter how bad the situation is |
| Pollyanna | unusually optimistic |
| Pollyanna | always looking at the bright side |
| Pollyanna | excessively cheerful |
| Pollyanna | naive |
| Pavlov's Dogs/Pavlovian | conditioned response |
| Pavlov's Dogs/Pavlovian | rang a bell while presenting food to dogs |
| Pavlov's Dogs/Pavlovian | automatically begin to salivate |
| Pavlov's Dogs/Pavlovian | conditioned to associate |
| Pavlov's Dogs/Pavlovian | automatically or instinctively responds to or obeys a signal |
| Pavlov's Dogs/Pavlovian | automatic, unthinking response |
| Bedlam | nickname |
| Bedlam | Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem |
| Bedlam | mental hospital |
| Bedlam | wildly chaotic |
| Bedlam | extremely raucous and noisy |
| The Handwriting on the Wall | Book of Daniel |
| The Handwriting on the Wall | human hand appeared |
| The Handwriting on the Wall | translated the writing |
| The Handwriting on the Wall | reign was over |
| The Handwriting on the Wall | indication that doom or misfortune is coming |
| Albatross Around One's Neck | "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" a poem |
| Albatross Around One's Neck | Coleridge |
| Albatross Around One's Neck | shoots an albatross |
| Albatross Around One's Neck | wear the carcass of the albatross around his neck |
| Albatross Around One's Neck | burdensome, ongoing problem |
| Prometheus/Promethean | Greek mythology |
| Prometheus/Promethean | cunning |
| Prometheus/Promethean | Zeus withheld fire from mankind |
| Prometheus/Promethean | Mount Olympus |
| Prometheus/Promethean | stole some fire, which he gave to man |
| Prometheus/Promethean | chaining him to a rock |
| Prometheus/Promethean | valiant resistance to authority |
| Prometheus/Promethean | rebellion against the established order of the universe |
| Juggernaut | Hindu deity |
| Juggernaut | large cart |
| Juggernaut | threw themselves in front of the cart and were crushed |
| Juggernaut | especially a destructive force |
| Juggernaut | defies opposition |
| Red Herring | fish |
| Red Herring | strong, pungent smell |
| Red Herring | confusing the hounds and diverting them |
| Red Herring | throw the dogs off the trail |
| Red Herring | diverting someone onto a false trail |
| Red Herring | distracting a person from the true issue |
| Pharisees/Pharisaical | Jewish sect that insisted on strict adherence to written law |
| Pharisees/Pharisaical | Jesus |
| Pharisees/Pharisaical | outwardly pious |
| Pharisees/Pharisaical | inwardly corrupt |
| Pharisees/Pharisaical | hypocrite |
| Pharisees/Pharisaical | upholds the letter of the law, but not its spirit |
| Pharisees/Pharisaical | hypocritical act |
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