| 释义 |
Pelion|ˈpiːlɪɒn|
The name of a mountain in Thessaly, used in phr. to pile (or heap) Pelion upon Ossa (or Ossa upon Pelion) [tr. Virgil Georgics I. 281 imponere Pelio Ossam]: to add to what is already great; to add difficulty to difficulty. Also in similar phrases.
1589A. Fleming tr. Virgil's Georgiks i. 10 Thrise did they trie and giue assay vpon mount Pelius, To lay the mountaine Ossa. 1594Nashe Unfortunate Traveller sig. C4v Whosoeuer seekes by headlong meanes to enter into Heauen..shall with the Gyaunts..be ouer-whelmed with Mount Ossa and Peleon. 1609Dekker Guls Horne-Booke 30 By talking and laughing..you heape Pelion vpon Ossa, glory vpon glory. 1628T. May tr. Virgil's Georgicks i. 14 Thrice they indeavour'd with strong hand to place the mountain Ossa on high Pelion. a1734R. North Examen (1740) ii. v. 336 It is a Pelion upon Ossa to set Power over Power. 1919G. B. Shaw in Shaw on Shakespeare (1962) 257, I might pile Pelion on Ossa with illustrations of the passages that might very well be cut out of Shakespear's plays. 1927C. A. & M. R. Beard Rise Amer. Civilization I. xii. 565 In piling Ossa on Pelion, Webster did not overlook mundane considerations—the economic and political substance of the pending issue, the sale of those annoying western lands. 1957Partridge English gone Wrong i. 12 ‘To categorize’ and categorization, and those Pelion-upon-Ossa horrifics, recategorize and recategorization. 1967Word Study Mar. 3/1 We discover Mount Pelion piled on Ossa, however, when we note that our teachers are even more conservative than their conservative textbooks. 1976Times 28 Apr. 14/8 Piling Pelion upon Ossa (a nasty habit that foreigners are much given to) they..calculate the rate of inflation in Britain. |