LITERARY LINGO
From The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
albatross around one's neck
An annoying burden: "That old car is an albatross around my neck." Literally, an albatross is a large sea bird. The phrase alludes to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER," in which a sailor who shoots a friendly albatross is forced to wear its carcass around his neck as punishment.
cultivate one's own garden
To take care of one's own needs before trying to take care of others: "The mayor ought to cultivate his own garden before he starts telling the governor what to do." This is the moral of CANDIDE, by Voltaire: take care of your own and the world will take care of itself. |
