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tantalize
In Greek
mythology, Tantalus was a King of Phrygia, a region of Greece, who was on
good terms with Zeus, king of the gods, and was even invited to dine with
him on Mount Olympus. But Tantalus made off with nectar and ambrosia, food
of the gods, and took them to earth. He also revealed to mortals the
secrets of the gods. He was condemned to a strange punishment, forced to
stand in the underworld in a pool of clear water, forbidden to eat or
drink. Every time he bent down to drink, the waters receded from him and
when he extended his hand to take fruit from the overhanging trees, the
fruit moved out of reach. So Tantalus suffered the agony of unfulfilled
anticipation.
tam-o'-shanter
The ‘tam’, the standard headgear of the Scottish ploughmen is a cap made
of woollen cloth and made to fit snugly round the head. Across the brow,
it is wider than the headband and it has a distinctive pompom in the
centre. Its name comes from Tam O'Shanter, the character in a Robert Burns
poem (1789) of the same name. The cap seems to have been the favourite
headgear of the poet as images of the time frequently show him wearing
one. Burns wrote the poem while walking along the banks of the River Nith.
In the poem, a drunken Tam is pursued by witches to the bridge over the
River Doon. The running water stalls the witches, but one plucks off the
tail of Tam's mare, Maggie.
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A drunken Tam O'Shanter trying to make his way
home. |
tartar In the thirteenth
century, the Tartars were part of the hordes of Genghis Khan, which swept
into Europe through Tatary, in Siberia. They overran Asia and part of
Europe. They were ruthless killers causing devastation wherever they went.
The Romans, called them Tartars after Tartarus, the Roman hell.
tawdry Before the seventeenth century, annual fairs used to be held
throughout England. Goose Fair still takes place in Nottingham and there
are a few more surviving local fairs. One of those ancient fairs sold a
type of lace which was not the best quality, but it was good enough and it
lasted until next year’s fair when more could be bought. This particular
fair was held in Ely and commemorated the local saint, St Audrey, and the
cheap lace, or any other cheap article, became known as St Audrey’s or
tawdry.
teddy bear
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) was president of the United States
(1901–1909). While bear hunting around Sunflower River in 1902, Roosevelt
was taken to a bear cub tied to a tree to make it easy for him to shoot.
Teddy, as the president was affectionately called, refused to kill the
little bear, and made his men release it. The press made a big issue of
this and the Washington Post published a cartoon of Roosevelt sparing the
bear. A couple from Brooklyn, Rose and Morris Michton presented the
president with a toy bear to commemorate his act of kindness. After other
people asked for copies, they sewed and assembled more bears which they
called teddy. They then had the idea to market the ‘teddies’ and started a
business producing ‘teddy bears’. Their business, The Ideal Toy Company,
continued until 1982 when it was taken over.
thespian
Thespis was a Greek choral poet of the sixth century B.C. Originally Greek
poems were recited by a chorus at festivals of the gods. Thespis changed
the form of these festivals allowing a director, Thespis himself, to ask
questions and individual members of the chorus to give poetic replies,
thereby creating dramatic dialogue. As Thespis was the first person to
speak in a play, he is considered to be the first actor.
tich The original ‘Little Tich’
was a tiny music-hall comedian whose real name was Harry Ralph
(1868–1928). He was less than four feet tall and performed stage pranks
and satirical humour. He appeared regularly in Drury Lane and toured
Europe. The President of France awarded him the Legion of Honour. He got
his name from an extraordinary legal case. Roger Charles Tichborne, an
heir to a baronetcy, had left England for a trip to South America in 1854,
but sadly his ship lank with all on board lost. In 1865, a man came
forward claiming to be Tichborne and claimed his inheritance. The family
disputed his claim and the case went to court. The claimant proved to be
an imposter and was sentenced to fourteen years of penal servitude. Roger
Tichborne was fat and was known as ‘Big Tich’. As Harry Ralph was short,
he called himself ‘Little Tich’.
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Harry Ralph known as
‘Little Tich’ |
thug In India, after the fall of the Mongol empire and before the
British took control, the countryside was dominated by a lawless gang
known as the Thuggees. They waylaid travellers and killed them, stealing
their property. A common method of murder was strangulation by use of a
scarf with a rupee judiciously placed over the victim’s throat. In 1828, a
British Governor of India, Lord William Bentinck, attempted to suppress
these terrorists, by rounding them up and hanging them, but it took 50
more years before they were finally wiped out.
Trebor Mints
The firm was founded in 1907 by four unemployed men, who boiled sweets in
a one of a row of terraced houses in London. The name of the terrace was
‘Trebor Villas’. The name was used for the firm on the insistence of one
of the partners, Robert Robinson, as ‘Trebor’ was his first name
backwards. The terraced row no longer exists but the company still
preserves the original street sign. |