Word: parliament
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...arms pleadingly. Then, still in ritual, he abandoned formal gestures, sat upon the chair, and became for the second time and by unanimous vote, Speaker of the House of Commons, First Commoner of the Realm. As such he must wear periwig and gown at all meetings of Parliament, listen to debates, rule tactfully on parliamentary procedure. In return he has a stone palace overlooking the Thames to live in (a wing of the Houses of Parliament), a salary of $25,000 a year, a further allowance for "costumes and effects" of $5,000, and an annual present...
...evening after Speaker Fitzroy was installed on his Chair, "Beefeaters" (Yeomen of the Guard) from the Tower of London marched through the cellars of Parliament. Carrying halberds and horn lanterns they poked in crannies, peered in corners. The purpose of this search was to look for Guy Fawkes, a gentleman who, one Nov. 4, tried to blow up Parliament, but who, to the comfort of present-day "Beefeaters," has been dead since...
Satisfied that Guy Fawkes was not in the cellar, Parliament proceeded to open. For the first time since 1900, the Sovereign did not appear...
...Rump," declares Mr. Dale, "doesn't mean 'a portion of the original whole.'" Turn to Funk and Wagnalls "Standard Dictionary": "rump ... 3) Figuratively, the last or poor end of anything; an inferior remnant, spec (R) the Rump Parliament...
That the Barebones Parliament was so called "with due regard to the original metaphor" is almost too delightful and original a theory to be spoiled by the prosaic recital of fact. Still, as everyone even slightly acquainted with English history should know, it was named after a member for the city of London, a puritan with the puritanical name of Praise-God Barebones. His brother, by the way, bore the still more astounding name of "If-Christ-had-not-come- thou-wouldst-have-been-damned Barebones...