Trouvez des professeurs en Anglais
mike29
What does this expression mean?
"A bitter draught"
It´s a title of an episode but I don´t understand the meaning of it.
Thanks in advance :)
22 févr. 2017 17:33
Réponses · 6
2
According to the Wikia for Once Upon a Time:
http://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/A_Bitter_Draught
In the episode, the Queen says to Monte Cristo:
"The venom of the Agrabahn Viper. A bitter draught; slow and painful."
Obviously, the venom is poison. It is also, for the Queen, a solution or a medication to take care of her problem (whomever she is trying to kill).
In this quotation, the literal meaning is:
A measured portion of a liquid or aerosol medication; a dose.
from: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/draught
a dose of liquid medicine
from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/draught
The phrase presumably comes from a line in Alexandre Dumas' book The Count of Monte Cristo:
"Hatred is blind, rage carries you away; and he who pours out vengeance runs the risk of tasting a bitter draught."
i.e. a person who seeks vengeance may receive harmful, unintended consequences.
In this quotation, the literal meaning is
a serving of drink (usually alcoholic) drawn from a keg
from: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/draught
Bitter in this case meaning it has gone bad
Both definitions are related.
In any case, a bitter draught contextually means a harmful, imbibed substance.
As a title it can be interpreted as "a dastardly solution", or more literally as referring to the poison.
22 février 2017
1
Difficult without having context as the word Draught has multiple meanings...
It could be cool air moving through a room for example "there is a bitter draught coming from the window or door"
Draught in english also refers to a beer or cider on tap (as apposed to in a bottle) and bitter is a type of beer, so could be relating to this.
22 février 2017
a severe famine
22 février 2017
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mike29
Compétences linguistiques
Anglais, Japonais, Slovaque
Langue étudiée
Anglais, Japonais
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