with me was possibly inspired by Luke 24:29: ‘Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’) Hence, Change and Decay In All Around I See, the title of a novel (1978) by Allan Massie.
Channel See CONTINENT ISOLATED.
(a) chapter of accidents A series of unforeseen happenings or misfortunes. The 4th Earl of Chesterfield used the phrase in a letter to his son in 1753. In 1837, John Wilkes was quoted by Southey as saying: ‘The chapter of accidents is the longest chapter in the book’. ‘A Chapter of Accidents’ is the heading of Pt 1, Chap. 9 of Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857). A Chapter of Accidents was the title of the autobiography (1972) of Goronwy Rees, the writer.
chariots of fire Chariots of Fire was the title given to a film (UK 1981) about the inner drives of two athletes (one a future missionary) in the 1924 Olympics. Appropriately for a film whose basic themes included Englishness, Christianity and Judaism, the title comes from William Blake’s poem, which is sung in Parry’s setting ‘Jerusalem’ at the climax of the film. Note the singular ‘chariot’ in the original: ‘Bring me my bow of burning gold, / Bring me my arrow of desire / Bring me my spear! Oh, clouds unfold / Bring me my chariot of fire.’ ‘Chariots of fire’ in the plural occurs in 2 Kings 6:17: ‘And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.’
(a) charisma bypass (operation) An expression at one time in general joke use, especially in show business and politics, to describe the reason why someone is unimpressive at self-projection. Originally rather a good joke. The earliest use found in the press is in The Washington Post (2 May 1986) concerning a Texas gubernatorial primary: ‘When Loeffler started the campaign, his name recognition was well under 10%…Part of the problem, according to one Republican consultant, is his rather plodding nature. “The guy is in desperate need of a charisma bypass,” said the consultant. “But if he gets into the runoff against Clements, he might get some charisma in a hurry”.’ ‘Politicians fall victim to a quick swipe with a well-turned phrase, such as the “charisma bypass”, which the unfortunate Premier of New South Wales is said to have undergone’ – The Daily Telegraph (14 February 1987); ‘When Betty Ford slipped quietly into hospital for a heart operation, the surgeon told her he had carried out Richard Nixon’s charisma bypass’ – Today (25 November 1987); ‘[Of Steve Davis, snooker player] “Oh yes, we say he had a charisma bypass when he was 17,” said Barry Hearn [manager] last week, without bothering to get involved in any defence of his protégé’ – The Sunday Times (11 December 1988).
charity begins at home The idea behind this proverb is expressed by Wyclif, circa 1383, but may also be traced back to Theocritus and Terence. The meaning was originally, ‘Set an example of charity in your home and spread it out from there’ – it does not end there – but nowadays it is sometimes used as an excuse for not giving to causes farther afield. From Sheridan, The School for Scandal, Act 5, Sc. 1 (1777): ‘Yet he has a string of charitable sentiments, I suppose, at his fingers’ ends.’ ‘Or, rather, at his tongue’s end…for I believe there is no sentiment he has such faith in as that “Charity begins at home”.’
Charley See CLAP HANDS.
Charlie See COME TO; HOLD MY HAND.
Charlie! / ‘Allo, what do you want, Ingrid? An exchange between Pat Hayes and Fred Yule from the BBC radio show, Ray’s a Laugh (1949–60). ‘Charlie’ was pronounced ‘Char–har–lie’.
Charlie Farnsbarns A foolish person whose name one cannot remember or does not care to. Although this moderately well-known expression escaped Eric Partridge and his reviser, Paul Beale, in Partridge/Slang, Beale commented (1985): ‘Charlie Farnsbarns was a very popular equivalent of e.g. “Mrs Thing” or “Old Ooja”, i.e. “Old whatsisname”. Much play was made with the name in [the BBC radio show] Much Binding In the Marsh, but whether Murdoch and Horne actually invented it, or whether they borrowed it “out of the air”, I’m afraid I don’t know. They would mention especially, I remember, a magnificent motorcar called a “Farnsbarns Special” or something like, say, a “Farnsbarns Straight Eight”. This was in the period, roughly, 1945–50, while I was at school – I recall a very jolly aunt of mine who was vastly amused by the name and used it a lot.’ Of course, a ‘Charlie’ (as in CHASE ME CHARLIE, PROPER CHARLIE and RIGHT CHARLIE) has long been a slightly derogative name to apply to an ordinary bloke. In Australia, it may also be a shortening of ‘Charlie Wheeler’, rhyming slang for ‘Sheila’, a girl (recorded in Sydney Baker, The Australian Language, 1945). ‘Farnsbarns’ has the numbing assonance needed to describe a bit of a nonentity. The phrase probably came out of the services (possibly RAF) in the Second World War.
Charlie’s dead Cry indicating that a woman’s slip or petticoat is showing below the hem of her dress. Known by the 1940s at least. Could it be that it looks like a flag flying at half-mast because Charlie is dead?
(a) charmed life A life in which luck and ease are in full measure. ‘Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests; / I bear a charmed life’ – Shakespeare, Macbeth, V.viii.12 (1606). Charmed Life – title of a book by Mary McCarthy (1956). ‘“Actually, the goaltender led a charmed life. Most of the danger was involved with the fellow who played between point and cover-point’ – The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (16 May 1967); ‘The sport remains intensely and inherently dangerous. There have been narrow escapes in recent years. But there is little doubt that Formula One had begun to think it led a charmed life. The trouble with the charmed life was that it coincided with the sport becoming more boring’ – The Guardian (2 May 1994); ‘They were married the following year and lived happily ever after. “I think they had a charmed life,” says Hagerty. “They were both passionate about photography and the landscape”’ – The Guardian (9 July 1994).
(a) charm offensive A happy coinage (along the lines of ‘peace offensive’) for the gregarious and open tactics towards the West of the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, around 1986. These tactics contrasted greatly with the frosty style of his predecessors. Later used to describe glad-handing by anybody, especially if this marks a change of tactics. ‘Now enraged beyond all reason, the furious drummer launches a widespread charm offensive and appears on all daytime chat shows to promote his rotten new record’ – The Spectator (7 December 2002).
chase See CUT TO THE.
chase me, (Charlie) ‘Chase me’ has been the catchphrase of the camp British comedian Duncan Norvelle since before 1986. ‘Chase me, Charlie’, as the title of a song from Noël Coward’s Ace of Clubs (1950) was not original. It had also been the title of a popular song current in 1900.
(the) chattering classes A term for those newspaper journalists and broadcasters who are paid to discuss topics of current interest, the opinion-formers, but also those – usually of a liberal bent – who simply like to talk about them. The phrase first registered when Alan Watkins used it in The Observer (4 August 1985): ‘At the beginning of the week the Daily Mail published, over several days, a mélange of popular attitudes towards Mrs Thatcher. Even though it contained little that was surprising or new, it was much discussed among the chattering classes.’ Subsequently, Watkins described (in The Guardian, 25 November 1989) how the phrase had been coined by the rightish political commentator Frank Johnson in conversation with Watkins in the early years of Margaret Thatcher’s prime ministership (i.e. circa 1980). Johnson believes he first used the phrase in Now! Magazine in 1981.
cheap
