'Butterfly on a wheel'
Mika J Viljanen
mostly in lyrics (music).
I've asked people (including one native speaker) before,
but I'm yet to hear the explanation.
Alas, I can't remember any good context, but I believe
that usually it is used as in "...LIKE a butterfly on a wheel".
What does it mean, and how has it originated? Any ideas?
- MV
Torkel Franzen
> Alas, I can't remember any good context, but I believe
> that usually it is used as in "...LIKE a butterfly on a wheel".
>
> What does it mean, and how has it originated? Any ideas?
The Web knows:
Who Breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel
In contemplating David Keenan's plight, I am haunted by a powerful
line from Alexander Pope's 'Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot' at Line 308:
"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel."
Writing in the 15th Century, Pope was witness to the hideous tortures
méted out to all kinds of miscreants, breaking the villain's bones on
a wheel with an iron bar being one of the more inventive. To break a
delicate creature like a butterfly in such a brutal way as upon a
wheel has come to be synonymous with applying superabundant effort in
the accomplishment of a small matter. A modern, if far less gruesome,
equivalent would be to use a sledge hammer to crack a nut.
Mika J Viljanen
Actually I found a reference to the same line on a webpage, but there
was no explanation of the phrase whatsoever.
> wheel has come to be synonymous with applying superabundant effort in
> the accomplishment of a small matter. A modern, if far less gruesome,
I also found the meaning of this idiom (thanks to the
Hong Kong Virtual Language Center < vlc.polyu.edu.hk/idioms/ >), but
without information on how it has originated.
Also, I checked the lyrics of one of the songs with the phrase.
"Love breaks the wings of a butterfly on a wheel" and
"Love heals the wings of a butterfly on a wheel" are used.
(The Mission (UK): Butterfly on a Wheel)
The expressions are probably based on the very same idiom,
with some 'artistic flavour' added.
Anyway, your explanation helped a lot. Thank you.
- MV
corin-slocombe@bridith.freeserve.co.uk j.corin-slocombe
wheel attached to the capstan. The nut has flat extensions which look like
butterfly wings which assist one to tighten and loosen the nut without the
use of a wrench.
Judith
Mika J Viljanen <mjvi...@cs.Helsinki.FI> wrote in message
news:81j0ro$59u$1...@oravannahka.helsinki.fi...
> This is an expression I've seen/heard used many times,
> mostly in lyrics (music).
> I've asked people (including one native speaker) before,
> but I'm yet to hear the explanation.
>
> Alas, I can't remember any good context, but I believe
> that usually it is used as in "...LIKE a butterfly on a wheel".
>
> What does it mean, and how has it originated? Any ideas?
>
> - MV
corin-slocombe@bridith.freeserve.co.uk j.corin-slocombe
leo
<tor...@sm.luth.se> writes
> > that usually it is used as in "...LIKE a butterfly on a wheel".
> >
> > What does it mean, and how has it originated? Any ideas?
>
>
>
>Who Breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel
>
>In contemplating David Keenan's plight, I am haunted by a powerful
>
>Writing in the 15th Century, Pope was witness to the hideous tortures
I think not!
--
leo
DJC
wrote:
> This is an expression I've seen/heard used many times,
>mostly in lyrics (music).
> I've asked people (including one native speaker) before,
>but I'm yet to hear the explanation.
>
> Alas, I can't remember any good context, but I believe
>that usually it is used as in "...LIKE a butterfly on a wheel".
Another poster has already refered to Alexander Pope (1688-1744).
However I suspect the popularity of this phrase in modern popular
music is likely to be the result of its quotation in newspapers
following a drugs prosecution in the 1960s. I think the people
involved were the Rolling Stones, and the newspaper the Times.
--
Replies to the address above will be presumed spam.
Any intelligence, artificial or otherwise, worth
my attention should be capable of finding me at:
David Clark,Uni.Warwick, England
Wijnand Thompson
DJC <bi...@lostcause.co.uk> wrote:
> However I suspect the popularity of this phrase in modern popular
> music is likely to be the result of its quotation in newspapers
> following a drugs prosecution in the 1960s. I think the people
> involved were the Rolling Stones, and the newspaper the Times.
The Times leader, 1st July 1967:
'Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel? Mr. Jagger has been
sentenced to imprisonment for three months. ...'
Jagger was charged with the possession of four benzedrine
tablets, legally purchased in Italy where they were freely
sold as a travel sickness remedy, without a prescription.
--
Wijnand