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It's a reference to the Sword of Damocles, a Greek legend. In the story, Damocles told his emperor how lucky he was to be a powerful ruler, and the emperor offered to switch places for a while.
After a wonderful feast, where he was treated like royalty for the first time in his life, Damocles happened to look up -- where he saw a sharpened sword, hanging by a single horsehair. Suddenly, the good life didn't look so good anymore.
The message was that any privilege comes with a price: the threat that it could all be taken away, by a single act of carelessness or even random chance. In modern usage, 'hanging by a thread' has come to mean being a very short distance away from something bad happening; and 'the sword over your head' also stands for the idea that with power also comes the burden of wielding that power responsibly.
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What does in over my head mean?
your going crazy Example: I'm afraid I may be in over my head with this job
What does to be head over the heels in work mean?
It refers to people in love, not at work.. thus " Ann is head over heels in love with Peter". Ann is madly in love with Peter.. her head is spinning and she is somersaulting around. "Head over heels" means "not rational." It does not mean "overwhelmed." For that meaning, we might say someone is up to their neck in work, or over their head in it.
What does hold something over your head mean?
Holding something over your head gives the mental image of holding it just out of reach so that you will pursue it.
What does the expression talking over your head mean?
When someone is "talking over your head," they are speaking of something too complex (over) for your brain (your head) to fully comprehend. Alternatively, if you are "talking over your head," you are speaking of something too complex (over) for your own brain (your head) to fully comprehend. Thus, you speak of something of which you don't really have the knowledge to speak.
What does un pull mean in English?
It means: a sweater that you pull over your head.
What does it mean when you are dreaming about trying to bat spiders hanging over your head?
i doesnt mean anything lol :) interesting question...
What is the meanong of sword of democles?
It means you are in a situation where if anything goes wrong it will be disasterous for you. ie "you have the sword of Damocles hanging over your head" Greek legend has it that a man named Damocles had to sit through a banquet with a sword hanging point down from the roof above him from a very fine thread. It was meant as punishment and lesson teaching for his constant boasting and lies. Whether it worked or not I don't know , but its not going to do his appetite much good.
Why was ahmadou ahidjo exiled?
dead penalty was hanging over his head by his predecessor
According to legend with what was a sword suspended over the head of Damocles?
A single hair.
What does a geisha with a sword through the head mean?
A geisha is a symbol of beauty, peace, and serenity. It is believed that an image of a geisha with a sworde or knife through her head represents crossing over to the other side in peace.
What does it mean to have the sword of damocles hanging over your head?
Damocles and his Sword are figures from Greek legend. Damocles was a courtier who was complimenting a tyrant. The tyrant offered to switch places with him for a day, to which Damocles agrees. The day seems to be going all well for Damocles...until dinner, when he looks up to see a very heavy and very sharp sword being suspended over his head by a hair. The sword is symbolic of the constant risk of life the tyrant faces every day because he is king. If someone says you have the Sword of Damocles over your head, it means your position puts you at constant risk of your life; death can come from anywhere at anytime. Kings and other heads of state always have to watch their backs because being in power makes them targets (it is not hard to look up royal and presidential assassinations). It could also apply more generally to a person in constant fear of being killed (such as an undercover operative in enemy territory).
Can you find a sentence using the idiom the sword of damocles?
The threat of bankruptcy hangs over his head like the sword of Damocles.
In the bible David hit Goalith in the head with a rock What did David do to ensure that goalith was dead?
1 Samuel 17:50, 51 - So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. [NKJV]
What was over the door in professor marvel's coach?
It is a shrunken head that is hanging above his table. Avove the door is a human skull, but it looks like the shrunken head is above the door at one point. All you can see the the hair of the skull hanging down.
If you spin a sword over your head really fast can you fly away like a helicopter?
Sadly Not, it's physically impossible.
Who was Damocles?
Damoclēs, a courtier of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse in the fourth century BC. When he praised to excess the happiness of a tyrant, Dionysius invited him to experience it for himself. He placed Damocles at a banquet where presently the latter observed a naked sword hanging over his head by a single hair, symbolizing the precarious nature of such happiness.
What two things Beowulf take to the surface?
Beowulf takes Grendel's head and the hilt of the giant's sword to the surface as trophies of his victory over Grendel's mother in the underwater lair.
