beau geste [boʊ ˈʒɛst] n.
1.) A gracious gesture.
2.) A gesture noble in form but meaningless in substance (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).
Etymology: French beau, noble + geste, gesture.
"It was in the rout that followed Issus that Darius fled the field of battle, leaving his wife, children, and even his mother behind in the baggage train. Alexander, with characteristic largesse and fondness for the beau geste—like most extravagant personalities, he had a capacity for generosity as great as his capacity for ruthlessness—honorably maintained the captives in royal state" (How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken: Essays, Daniel Mendelsohn, 2008).
I thought I'd give the ladies an aide-mémoire this time. (This is also pretty much what I look like when my toga is falling off.) And let's resume the weekly challenge this week, using 5 of rebus, cabbalistic, festina lente, abderian, miasma, oneiric, and jezebel. Thanks for reading!
12 comments:
Thought Beau Geste was an old movie. I never thought about what it meant. A good expression to toss into conversation. And how nice to have a statue of you - or, wait, did I get that bit right - ? :)
I worked on a stage play by that name!
I remember that old black and white movie too. It was about a guy in the French Foreign Legion. He joined to forget. As did they all, apparently.
what happened to my comment?
Dang, E, are you serious? Maybe there should be a picture of you with your toga falling off, instead of an old Greek statue!
Alright... snapping out of it, I'll try to contribute to the challenge... It will be difficult, though, with all the cabbalistic festivities I'll be preparing for...
sounds so class..beautiful! bella =))
funny, that's exactly how I look sans toga as well! only a bit darker.
The second definition sounds much more useful.
I really like the second meaning. I know a lot of people who do things like that.
Yay, challenges again!
...You flatter yourself.
But yes, I read your blog only because you have a potential to look like that.
Hit the gyms, dude.
sound very elegant!
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