Thursday, April 23, 2009

Pounds of Flesh


Cernit Flesh doll colors- left to right; Nougat, Caramel, Almond, Suntan, and finally Flesh.



All are available now.



I consider these to all be base colors, that can be altered with small amounts of the other colors available.



“I’ll have a pound of flesh” or “I want 10 pounds of flesh”.
Hearing this when someone calls to order always makes me chuckle, so I googled it.


Happy Birthday Will!!!
Shakespeare is believed to have been born on April 23, 1564, and died exactly 52 years later, on April 23, 1616.

From Phrases.org

From the Phrase Finder
Meaning
Something which is owed that is ruthlessly required to be paid back.
Origin
This of course derives from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, 1596. The insistence by Shylock of the payment of Antonio's flesh is the central plot device of the play:
SHYLOCK: The pound of flesh which I demand of him Is deerely bought, 'tis mine, and I will haue it.
The figurative use of the phrase to refer to any lawful but nevertheless unreasonable recompense dates to the late 18th century.

From Answers.com
n., pl. pounds of flesh.
A debt harshly insisted upon.


This ad from Dictionary.com page made me laugh even more and I had not even gotten to the definition yet. Seems there are quite a few things under this title for sale on Amazon.
Pound Of Flesh at Amazon
Low prices on pound of flesh. Qualified orders over $25 ship free

and the definition from Dictionary.com
22.
pound of flesh, something that strict justice demands is due, but can only be paid with great loss or suffering to the payer.

And Infoplease.com
Pound of Flesh
The whole bargain, the exact terms of the agreement, the bond literatim et verbatim. The allusion is to Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice, who bargained with Antonio for a “pound of flesh,” but was foiled in his suit by Portia, who said the bond was expressly a pound of flesh, and therefore (1) the Jew must cut the exact quantity, neither more nor less than a just pound; and (2) in so doing he must not shed a drop of blood.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

Interesting isn’t it?

3 comments:

  1. Well, I certainly did not know all that! Happy Birthday to Dear William! He probably would have enjoyed the snacks in your last post!

    I really love this new cernit g! (Too bad I am on the computer all the time and not using up my stash LOL.) Glad you carry it Marie!

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  2. LOL!! Neither did I. I hope I did him honor. I learn something old everyday.
    I love the new formulation of Cernit too! My art will never be the same because of the changes I have made and it is very good. Some things are really blessings in disguise. Even when quite uncomfortable, they are usually the best thing that ever happens in my life.
    I am so glad I am here now! It is so much cleaner.

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  3. ((((Marie))))
    When you have a chance, stop over at my 200 blog post!
    Love,
    oops

    ReplyDelete

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Live to love, Love to create, and create to connect.
Marie

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