Meaning:
Take full advantage of an opportunity before it passes
Background:
This expression, which alludes to the drying of grass for animal feed, is first recorded in
English in Alexander Barclay's Ship of Fools.
Ship of Fools, originally written by the distinguished humanist Sebastian
Brant in 1494 and published in German as Narrenschiff, satirizes examples
of contemporary folly. It was one of the most successful published works
of its age and is often cited as one of the first "international bestsellers".
Alexander Barclay adapted it into English as The Ship of
Folys of the Worlde in 1509. The work's comic woodcuts,
commonly attributed to Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg, are a key part of its
popularity. Sample illustrations can be seen at the University of
Glasgow's
website. The full text and illustrations are available at
Project Gutenberg.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great...
read more
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
Full Story
