with pomp and circumstance
Meaning: With great ceremony and display.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The new bridge was opened with pomp and circumstance.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From Shakespeare's Othello (around 1604): "Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war." Elgar's marches Pomp and Circumstance (from 1901), played at many graduations, made it familiar.
Equivalents in other languages
- Italian: in pompa magna — literally: in great pomp
- French: En grande pompe — literally: In great pomp
More idioms — Daily Life
- reinvent the wheel — To waste effort creating something that already exists.
- a Pyrrhic victory — A win that costs so much it is almost a defeat.
- go to rack and ruin — To fall into a state of decay through neglect.
- an old wives' tale — A traditional belief, especially about health, that is not true.
- a pen-pusher — A clerk or bureaucrat doing dull paperwork.
- a word to the wise — A hint or warning that a sensible person will heed.
More English idioms
- protect one's turf — To defend one's area of control or responsibility against others.
- chase rainbows — To pursue something unrealistic.
- on one's toes — Alert and ready to react.
- left high and dry — Stranded or abandoned without help.
- blood will tell — Family background and inherited character eventually show.
- a shot across the bow — A warning of more serious action to come.
From our proverbs
- One may think that dares not speak. — Silent thoughts remain powerless; voicing ideas, however risky, gives them potential forc…
- Think twice before you speak once. — Hasty words cause irreversible harm; deliberation before speaking prevents regret and mis…
- Think much, speak little, and write less. — Excessive speech and writing scatter thought; silence preserves wisdom's clarity and powe…