Cunning
Adler, Irenecleverly foiled Sherlock Holmes and the King of Bohemia. [Br. Lit.: Doyle “A Scandal in Bohemia” in Sherlock Holmes]
nickname for the sly pickpocket, John Dawkins. [Br. Lit.: Oliver Twist]
clever, hell-born hero. [Fr. Lit.: Le Diable Boiîteux, Walsh Modern, 31]
craftiest of thieves; stole neighbors’ flocks by changing marks. [Gk. Myth.: NCE, 192]
law clerk with “strange wild slyness.” [Br. Lit.: Pickwick Papers]
cleverness and timing bring him England’s crown. [Br. Lit.: Richard II]
(1476–1507) unscrupulously plotted against friend and foe. [Ital. Hist.: Plumb, 59–61]
sly trickster; outwits everyone. [Children’s Lit.: Uncle Remus]
for whom no trap is too tricky. [Comics: Horn, 140]
pounces without warning on prey. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 320]
manipulates Antony through her “infinite variety.” [Br. Lit.: Antony and Cleopatra]
symbolizes one who lives by his wits. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 388]
contracts for as much land as can be enclosed by an oxhide; by cutting it into a strip she obtains enough to found a city. [Rom. Legend: Collier’s VI, 259]
epithet of Hermes, meaning ‘crafty.’ [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 124]
delayed meeting Hannibal’s troops; wore them down; hence, fabian. [Rom. Hist.: Espy, 177]
ingeniously contrives means to his own ends. [Fr. Lit.: Barber of Seville; Marriage of Figaro]
symbol of cleverness and deceit. [Animal Symbolism: Mercatante, 84–85]
shrewd old man always turns the table on mischievous kids. [Comics: Horn, 602]
tricks husband into fulfilling marital duties. [Br. Lit.: All’s Well That Ends Well]
beat the swift Atalanta in a race by distracting her with golden apples. [Gk. Myth.: Bulfinch]
frustrates captor while pretending compliance. [Ital. Opera: Rossini, Italian Girl in Algeria, Westerman, 118–119]
outwits the tiger; imprisons him. [Hindu Folklore: Mercatante, 55]
grows rich by tricks and extortions. [Dan. Lit.: Andersen’s Fairy Tales]
carries net on back to “catch fools with.” [Br. Lit.: Faerie Queene]
(1732–1795) Revolutionary general, nick-named the “Swamp Fox.” [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 308]
female slave cleverly dispatches 40 thieves. [Arab. Lit.: Arabian Nights, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”]
wily and noble hero of the Odyssey. [Gk. Lit.: Odyssey]
shrewd landowner with admirable bargaining ability. [Fr. Lit.: Mont-Oriol, Magill I, 618–620]
“received answers in twelve known and unknown tongues.” [Fr. Lit.: Gargantua and Pantagruel]
clever at finding fine points and technicalities. [Am. Usage: Misc.]
thrives on outwitting Wile E. Coyote. [Comics: “Beep Beep the Road Runner” in Horn, 105]
hoodwinks friends into painting fence. [Am. Lit.: Tom Sawyer]
escapes being put to death by telling stories for 1001 nights. [Arab. Lit.: Arabian Nights]
subtly deceives Eve in the Garden. [O.T.: Genesis 3:1]
induces Trojans to take in wooden horse. [Rom. Lit.: Aeneid]
indicates cleverness. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 177]
outwits Wolf; lures him into boiling water. [Children’s Lit.: Bettelheim, 41–45]
ingeniously rescues his master, Mr. Pickwick, from many scrapes. [Br, Lit.: Dickens Pickwick Papers]
outwits ferocious giant and gains his talismanic possessions. [Br. Fairy Tale: “Molly Whipple” in Macleod, 58–641
symbol on coats of arms. [Heraldry: Halberts, 16]
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.