A dandy in Aspic! What's Aspic?

Dingbat

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Mar 31, 2016, 1:12:19 AM3/31/16

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It's in a headline on the death of Alfred Vanderbilt upon the sinking of the Lusitania.
http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.in/2012/09/a-dandy-in-aspic-tragic-loss-of.html

The dictionary meaning of aspic (a savory jelly) doesn't seem relevant.

Helen Lacedaemonian

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Mar 31, 2016, 2:36:55 AM3/31/16

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His goose is cooked. His fate is clear.

Best,
Helen

Isabelle C

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Mar 31, 2016, 6:39:35 AM3/31/16

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That is quite a fascinating page. Thank you! It seems it was written in
2012, and I think the headline "A Dandy in Aspic" does not date back to
the time of the sinking of the Lusitania.

It rather looks as if it was added by the editor of the site, probably
as a reference to Anthony Mann's 1968 movie.

The general idea would be of somebody trapped and unable to escape his fate.

--
Isabelle

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

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Mar 31, 2016, 7:02:36 AM3/31/16

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The phrase "dandy in aspic" is found elsewhere. In the following book it
is contrasted with "dandy in clover".

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GS0SBgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA86&ots=dLzUKpBykg&dq=%22dandy%20in%20clover%22&pg=PA86#v=onepage&q=%22dandy%20in%20clover%22&f=false
or
http://tinyurl.com/zaxs7ux

A dandy is:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dandy

A man unduly concerned with looking stylish and fashionable

And,
OED:

Phrase. "to live (or be) in clover": ‘to live luxuriously; clover
being extremely delicious and fattening to cattle’ (Johnson).

So a "dandy in clover" is a "man concerned with looking stylish and
fashionable who live luxuriously".

I assume that a "dandy in aspic" is a "man concerned with looking
stylish and fashionable who is in an unpleasant, non-luxurious,
situation"

There was a novel and movie titled _A Dandy in Aspic_:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dandy_in_Aspic

Being dead because of the sinking of a ship looks like an extreme form
of bing "in aspic". That might account for the exclamation mark in the
headline:

'A Dandy In Aspic!' The Tragic Loss Of American 'Royalty' On RMS
Lusitania! Millionaire Sportsman, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt.

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

Ross

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Mar 31, 2016, 5:51:11 PM3/31/16

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It is still not entirely clear to me, but the "dandy" is definitely
Eberlin, the central character, who is some kind of double agent,
living in London:

[Eberlin] lives in a posh flat, wears elegant clothes and dines
in the best pubs.
Maurice Rapf, reviewing the film, Life 1968/03/29

And we have a comment from Derek Marlowe, author of the novel,
who surely originated the phrase:

Marlowe assumed a classical definition of the dandy for his story,
explaining that it is not simply about dress but really about
self-discipline, a discipline that denies friends, sex, and ostentation.
His character of Eberlin, he explains, "retires into his own entity,
a dandy in aspic, untarnished".

Alan Burton, Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction

Rich Ulrich

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Apr 1, 2016, 1:05:40 AM4/1/16

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On Thu, 31 Mar 2016 14:51:08 -0700 (PDT), Ross <benl...@ihug.co.nz>
wrote:

There's a natural resonance with "a fly in amber", isn't there?
fly in amber a strange relic or reminder of the past

http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/fly%20in%20amber

--
Rich Ulrich

spuorg...@gowanhill.com

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Apr 1, 2016, 5:32:20 AM4/1/16

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Indian English may use the meaning in British English:

British English if something is preserved in aspic, it has not changed for a very long time: a part of town preserved in aspic for tourists

http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/aspic

Owain

Ross

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Apr 1, 2016, 4:32:15 PM4/1/16

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That's what was missing. Something in aspic is visible, unaltered
in appearance but also unchanging. I didn't find any examples of this
metaphorical use in OED, but Google Books shows a number of books
before Marlowe's novel with "in aspic" in the title modifying
humans or other non-food items:

J.Miles, Friends in Aspic (1939)
Albert Edward Wilson, Playwrights in Aspic (1950) [a collection of parodies]
John Gillies, Voyagers in Aspic (1954)
Charmian Clift, Images in Aspic (1965)
(Anon?), Man in Aspic (1965)

Charles Bishop

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Apr 1, 2016, 7:59:08 PM4/1/16

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In article <givpfbl0mhplu33kl...@4ax.com>,

In my AmE, to be in clover is to be well off, financially, health-wise
or some other positive attribute. The person may have the ability to
live luxuriously, but doesn't necessarily do so.

[snip]

--
charles