DISTINCTIVE NAMES OF

 PERSONS, PLACES AND THINGS

 

The Gilded Chamber                                  The House of Lords

The Vatican                                                The home of the Pope of Rome

The White House                                        The home of the President of USA

No. 10 Downing Street                                The home of the Prime Minister of Britain

The Citadel of Athens                                  The Acropolis

The Colosseum                                            The ruins of the Flavian amphitheatre in Rome

The Alhambra                                  The famous palace and stronghold of the Moorish kings of Granada in Spain         

Fleet Street                                                  The newspaper centre of Britain

Wall Street                                                   The financial centre of the USA

The Pillars of Hercules          Two great rocks, Gibraltar and Ceuta, commanding the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea

Indian corn                                                  Maize

Indian date                                                   Tamarind

Indian file                                                     Single file i.e. one person walking behind the other

Paternoster                                                  The Lord’s Prayer

Chanticleer                                                   A cock

Potter’s field                                                 A burial ground for the very poor and unknown

Persian apple                                                The peach

Adam’s apple                                               The Larynx

Adam’s ale                                                    Water

The inner man                                              The stomach

Junker                                                          A member of the German aristocracy

Limb of the Law                                          Policeman

Kulak                                                           A Russian land-owning peasant

The silver streak                                          The English Channel

Black art                                                      Witchcraft

The herring pong                                          The Atlantic Ocean

The House of Keys                                      Parliament of the Isle of Man

Iron horse                                                    A train

The gentle craft                                          Shoemaking

The lamp of Heaven                                  The moon

The universal arithmetic                              Algebra

China’s sorrow                                          The Hwang-Ho

River Silver                                                 Rio-de-la-Plata

Quicksilver                                                  mercury

The garden of France                              The Loire Valley

Black diamond                                         Coal

Capital punishment                                  The death sentence

The Ashes                                                Symbol of victory in international cricket matches

King of Metals                                          Gold

God’s acre                                                A churchyard

God’s image                                             The human body

A Good Samaritan                                     A friend in need

Bottomless pit                                           Hell

White plague                                              Tuberculosis

Hansen’s disease                                         leprosy

White fuel                                                   Water power

April gentlemen                                          A newly-married man

Scotland Yard                                            The headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Force

Old Bailey                                                  The Central Criminal Court in London, England

The Father of the waters                              The River Nile

King of the waters                                      The River Amazon

King of the jungle                                      tiger

King of beasts                                          The Lion

King of the sea                                         The herring

Sheep’s eyes                                              Looks of love

Bird of peace                                             The dove

The olive branch                                         The symbol of peace

Morganatic marriage          Marriage of a king or queen or one of royal rank to one of lower rank

The head of the Roman Catholic Church          The Pope

The head of the Church of England          The Queen and then the Archbishop of Canterbury

Bird of Jove                                                 The eagle

Bird of Juno                                                 The peacock

Bird of the night                                          The owl

American leopard                                         The jaguar

John Bull                                                     An Englishman

Cockney                                                      A Londoner

The fourth estate                                          The Press

The sinews of war                                       Money

Gentlemen of the robe                                 The legal profession

The sterner of sex                                        Men

The fairer sex                                              Women

Flower of the flock                                      The best child of a family

Land of the Leal                                              Heaven

Ocean greyhound                                          A swift ship

House of correction                                      A prison, penitentiary

A man of letters                                              A scholarly author

Jack Tar                                                      A seaman

Mother tongue                                              one’s native language

Baker’s dozen                                              thirteen

 

 

 

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