ENG
  • ENG
  • ESP
Cat got your tongue?
  • Home
  • News
  • Services
  • About me
  • Contact

We Three Kings of Orient

January 4, 2019 at 9:11 pm, No comments

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--

Lewis Carroll 

"The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Alice Through the Looking Glass


We're only going to be talking about the last topic mentioned in the quote: Kings. The Epiphany (El Día de Reyes) is fast approaching. Although in anglophone culture we don't have a festive day dedicated to Gaspard (bringer of gold), Melchior (bringer of frankincense) and Balthasar (bringer of myrrh), they are known and go by various different names: The Three Wise Men, The Biblical Magi and, most famously, The Three Kings. To mark the occasion, let's learn some common expressions with the word "King".

To be the King of something      

A phrase given to a master or pioneer of something. The female version can be used with "queen". Eg. Elvis was crowned the King of Rock and Roll. 

A king's ransom

A fortune. Eg. We had to pay a king's ransom to rent a flat in the city centre.

To live like a king

To live exceptionally well. Eg. My cat lives like a king. All he does is eat, sleep, play and receive lots of attention.

The King's English    

Considered the highest and most educated form of British English. As the current ruling monarch is a queen, today's phrase is The Queen's English. Eg. You would never know he was foreign; he speaks the Queen's English.

Fit for a king

Luxurious or delicious. Eg. Our hotel suite was fit for a king. The Christmas dinner was fit for a king.

As cocky as the King of Spades

Overly proud. Eg.The firm's CEO is as cocky as the King of Spades, just because he's earning a 8-figure salary!

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Desiderius Erasmus


One of my favourite quotes. Someone with limited ability is considered special by those having no ability. Eg. My Spanish isn't very good but my friends can't speak a word. So as the saying goes, "in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king".


I wish you all a Happy Kings' Day, and a prosperous 2019! I leave you with the first verse of an English Christmas carol about The Three Kings:

We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts, we traverse far
Field and fountain
Moor and mountain
Following yonder star




No comments

Leave a reply







Recent Posts

  • "Modal Land" and Wonderland: worlds of endless possibilities
    8 Dec, 2020
  • From head to toe : body idioms
    11 Oct, 2020
  • Summer Intensives
    23 Jun, 2019
  • Would I lie to you?
    3 Feb, 2019
  • We Three Kings of Orient
    4 Jan, 2019
  • English words with Spanish/Amerindian origins
    12 Oct, 2018
  • Shoulda woulda coulda....but did ya? : informal contractions
    7 Oct, 2018

Extra info

Feel free to share ideas and opinions here. It's your space!

Created with Mozello - the world's easiest to use website builder.