king charles' head

English - Turkish

Definition of king charles' head in English Turkish dictionary

Related Terms

king charles's head

(deyim) gereksiz saplantı

English - English

Definition of king charles' head in English English dictionary

An obsession, especially one that keeps intruding irrelevantly into other matters

It is characteristic of Cobbett that he could always be relied on to produce conjuror-like from any subject one of his many King Charles' heads.

Related Terms

King Charles' heads

plural form of King Charles' head

King Charles's head

Alternative spelling of King Charles' head

Hyphenation

King charles' head

Turkish pronunciation

kîng çärlz hed

Synonyms

idee fixe

Pronunciation

/ˈkəɴɢ ˈʧärlz ˈhed/ /ˈkɪŋ ˈʧɑːrlz ˈhɛd/

Etymology

() King Charles I was beheaded in 1649, but the allusion is literary, rather than historical: Mr. Dick, in Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, lives with David's aunt, Betsy Trotwood. Mr. Dick had been trying to write a petition to the Lord Chancellor on the subject of some imagined dispute, but the subject of King Charles's head keeps intruding into the text. Betsy Trotwood discusses Mr. Dick's affliction with the young David: : "Did he say anything to you about King Charles the First, child?" : "Yes, aunt." : "Ah!" said my aunt, rubbing her nose as if she were a little vexed. "That's his allegorical way of expressing it. He connects his illness with great disturbance and agitation, naturally, and that's the figure, or the simile, or whatever it's called, which he chooses to use." The allusion was picked up by other writers and had become common by the 1890s.