But we’ll never be royals
January 11, 2019 7:44 AM Subscribe
I’m writing a piece about royalty, and I’d like to use some cliches and colloquial expressions that evoke royalty. So far I have “to the manor born” and “king’s ransom”. What are some other cliches that evoke royalty?
Best answer: A prince among men
The sport of kings
Queen/King's English
Queen for a day
Calling people who are the best "The King" or "The King of X" (Elvis, Richard Petty)
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:51 AM on January 11, 2019
The sport of kings
Queen/King's English
Queen for a day
Calling people who are the best "The King" or "The King of X" (Elvis, Richard Petty)
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:51 AM on January 11, 2019
Best answer: Choix du roi (king's choice), which is the preferred order of children: a son first, as heir to the throne, and then a daughter who will (I assume) marry strategically into another high-born family.
posted by methroach at 8:02 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by methroach at 8:02 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Line them up against the wall.
posted by Madame Defarge at 8:06 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Madame Defarge at 8:06 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think the phrase was "to the manner born". There is a show "To the manor born" which I am guessing is being punny and making fun of the (VERY common error).
posted by beccaj at 8:07 AM on January 11, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by beccaj at 8:07 AM on January 11, 2019 [10 favorites]
Best answer: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
posted by frumiousb at 8:12 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by frumiousb at 8:12 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A cat may look at a King.
posted by frumiousb at 8:13 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by frumiousb at 8:13 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: We serve at the pleasure of the King.
Fit for a king
Heavy is the head that wears the crown
Its good to be the king
posted by ian1977 at 8:17 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Fit for a king
Heavy is the head that wears the crown
Its good to be the king
posted by ian1977 at 8:17 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: To the manor born has been the common usage for a few generations.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 8:26 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 8:26 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The King is dead. Long live the King!
A princely sum.
posted by clawsoon at 8:38 AM on January 11, 2019
A princely sum.
posted by clawsoon at 8:38 AM on January 11, 2019
Best answer: - Calling someone a "princess" to imply that they are overly fussy.
- My kingdom for a(n) X!
- King of the hill
And a little vulgar, but one I've always liked:
- King shit of fuck mountain (sometimes just "king shit")
posted by one of these days at 8:42 AM on January 11, 2019
- My kingdom for a(n) X!
- King of the hill
And a little vulgar, but one I've always liked:
- King shit of fuck mountain (sometimes just "king shit")
posted by one of these days at 8:42 AM on January 11, 2019
Best answer: Right of the first night/droit du seigneur.
The king of beasts.
posted by clawsoon at 8:42 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
The king of beasts.
posted by clawsoon at 8:42 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Let them eat cake.
posted by FencingGal at 8:57 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by FencingGal at 8:57 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
The crowning touch
The royal jewels/crown jewels
My kingdom for a...
posted by dywypi at 9:07 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
The royal jewels/crown jewels
My kingdom for a...
posted by dywypi at 9:07 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Queen of Sheba (as in "Who do you think you are?")
posted by Grunyon at 9:16 AM on January 11, 2019
posted by Grunyon at 9:16 AM on January 11, 2019
The song quote in the title refers to the Kansas City Royals- the baseball team...
posted by Patapsco Mike at 9:46 AM on January 11, 2019
posted by Patapsco Mike at 9:46 AM on January 11, 2019
Best answer: Queen Bee
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
posted by tuesdayschild at 9:51 AM on January 11, 2019
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
posted by tuesdayschild at 9:51 AM on January 11, 2019
Best answer: Monarch of all I survey
Off with their heads!
posted by elphaba at 10:03 AM on January 11, 2019
Off with their heads!
posted by elphaba at 10:03 AM on January 11, 2019
Best answer: When Downton Abbey's Dowager Countess asks, "What is a weekend?"
posted by homesickness at 10:07 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by homesickness at 10:07 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
to the manor born
This widely used contemporary misquote would not imply royalty; it would imply a person of aristocratic birth, which is the class beneath royalty. In other words, this phrase doesn't mean what you seem to want to say.
Similarly, in the original Shakespearean usage, "to the manner born," Hamlet is referring to local custom, not rank of birth.
Suggestion: The sport of Kings.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:12 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
This widely used contemporary misquote would not imply royalty; it would imply a person of aristocratic birth, which is the class beneath royalty. In other words, this phrase doesn't mean what you seem to want to say.
Similarly, in the original Shakespearean usage, "to the manner born," Hamlet is referring to local custom, not rank of birth.
Suggestion: The sport of Kings.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:12 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: You come at the king, you best not miss.
This widely used contemporary misquote would not imply royalty; it would imply a person of aristocratic birth, which is the class beneath royalty.
This isn't quite right; a manor is just an administrative/property unit, and in England you didn't have to be an aristocrat to hold one. In fact, a famous old historiographical debate about the prosperity of the gentry (a somewhat imprecise term but generally taken to refer to people who had some form of significant wealth or status but weren't necessarily noble) in the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century initially turned on relative counts of manorial holdings.
Still, it'd be kind of a strange thing to identify as distinctive of royalty.
posted by praemunire at 10:56 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
This widely used contemporary misquote would not imply royalty; it would imply a person of aristocratic birth, which is the class beneath royalty.
This isn't quite right; a manor is just an administrative/property unit, and in England you didn't have to be an aristocrat to hold one. In fact, a famous old historiographical debate about the prosperity of the gentry (a somewhat imprecise term but generally taken to refer to people who had some form of significant wealth or status but weren't necessarily noble) in the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century initially turned on relative counts of manorial holdings.
Still, it'd be kind of a strange thing to identify as distinctive of royalty.
posted by praemunire at 10:56 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: “Eat Breakfast Like a King, Lunch Like a Prince, and Dinner Like a Pauper”
posted by CiaoMela at 11:01 AM on January 11, 2019
posted by CiaoMela at 11:01 AM on January 11, 2019
Best answer: Lording over something/someone
Royally screwed up
The porcelain throne (for toilets)
Any sarcastic use of the phrase "Your highness" or "Excuse me, princess"
posted by helloimjennsco at 11:47 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Royally screwed up
The porcelain throne (for toilets)
Any sarcastic use of the phrase "Your highness" or "Excuse me, princess"
posted by helloimjennsco at 11:47 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I'm the king of the world!
Off with their heads!
posted by SuperSquirrel at 11:48 AM on January 11, 2019
Off with their heads!
posted by SuperSquirrel at 11:48 AM on January 11, 2019
I read this quote in a Neil Gaiman comic years ago:
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the Emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit; and the Emperor remains an Emperor."
posted by BigLankyBastard at 11:58 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the Emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit; and the Emperor remains an Emperor."
posted by BigLankyBastard at 11:58 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeator of the Saxons, sovereign of all England!
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:54 PM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:54 PM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: FitzRoy the king's bastard
The king of kings or High King
The King sits on his throne in Dumferline Town, drinking the red, red wine
King for a day
Conquering Kings their titles take
He was most kingly dying...
Make way for the King!
King under the mountain
King of the mountain
Keys to the Kingdom
Queen of Hearts
the Virgin Queen
Bloody Mary
It began with a lass and it ends with a lass
Off with his head!
the King, the Queen and the Knave
Crown Prince
Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense
Touch me not for Caesar's am I
It little profits an idle king...
Half the kingdom and the hand of the princess in marriage
Good King Arthur and the Knights of the round table
King's Cross
A car park
Let them eat cake
the King's Guard
the Throne room
The crown
The crown jewels
Scepter and Mace
the archbishop who crowns the king
King Richard the lionhearted
My Kingdom for a horse!
For want of a nail.... the kingdom was lost!
Idylls of the King
King John's bundle, lost in the wash
magna carta and /or Runnymede
King John was not a good man
the King's Justice
Lord High Chamberlain
The King's Breakfast (I do like a little bit of butter with my bread)
The changing of the guard
The Madness of King George
Regency
Prinnie
Three Kings that followed a star
The Handsome Prince
The royal palace
King David
Queen of Sheba
King Solomon and his wisdom
Fili me Absolom, Absolom fili me
King Herod
The Russian royal family
Princess Anastasia and the myth that she survived
Regicide
The people's princess
Poor Queen Anne
Heir to the throne
Ladies in waiting
The King's Christmas Message
Abdication
No matter what you are and who, certain things we all must do/even earls much brush their curls/and even kings have underthings
From here you can see five kingdoms
Kingdom of God
Henry the Eighth and his six wives
Going to London to visit the queen
posted by Jane the Brown at 10:55 PM on January 11, 2019
The king of kings or High King
The King sits on his throne in Dumferline Town, drinking the red, red wine
King for a day
Conquering Kings their titles take
He was most kingly dying...
Make way for the King!
King under the mountain
King of the mountain
Keys to the Kingdom
Queen of Hearts
the Virgin Queen
Bloody Mary
It began with a lass and it ends with a lass
Off with his head!
the King, the Queen and the Knave
Crown Prince
Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense
Touch me not for Caesar's am I
It little profits an idle king...
Half the kingdom and the hand of the princess in marriage
Good King Arthur and the Knights of the round table
King's Cross
A car park
Let them eat cake
the King's Guard
the Throne room
The crown
The crown jewels
Scepter and Mace
the archbishop who crowns the king
King Richard the lionhearted
My Kingdom for a horse!
For want of a nail.... the kingdom was lost!
Idylls of the King
King John's bundle, lost in the wash
magna carta and /or Runnymede
King John was not a good man
the King's Justice
Lord High Chamberlain
The King's Breakfast (I do like a little bit of butter with my bread)
The changing of the guard
The Madness of King George
Regency
Prinnie
Three Kings that followed a star
The Handsome Prince
The royal palace
King David
Queen of Sheba
King Solomon and his wisdom
Fili me Absolom, Absolom fili me
King Herod
The Russian royal family
Princess Anastasia and the myth that she survived
Regicide
The people's princess
Poor Queen Anne
Heir to the throne
Ladies in waiting
The King's Christmas Message
Abdication
No matter what you are and who, certain things we all must do/even earls much brush their curls/and even kings have underthings
From here you can see five kingdoms
Kingdom of God
Henry the Eighth and his six wives
Going to London to visit the queen
posted by Jane the Brown at 10:55 PM on January 11, 2019
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posted by cooker girl at 7:50 AM on January 11, 2019 [1 favorite]