Allusion

Etsuko has asked me about allusion. (verb = allude)

Allusion is a kind of reference; it is usually indirect and esoteric. Recently, President Obama was heard saying "They talk about me like a dog!" Many people said he was alluding to Jimi Henrix who wrote those words in his famous song Stone Free. President Obama's words could have easily been construed as a quote (direct reference) as he said them verbatim. However, President Obama denied any deliberate reference. In fact, if President Obama was a fan of Jimi Hendrix, some people might have said he was also paying homage to the rock star.

Many allusions are literary, such as:

• "He's a Don Juan." (a womaniser; a playboy - especially from Spanish literature)
• "She's a Jezebel." (a bad or loose woman; a slut; a manipulator of men - from the Bible)
• "It was a case of David and Goliath." (a smaller, weaker person defeats a bigger, stronger person - from the Bible)

Many allusions refer to historic characters or events, for example:

• He met his Waterloo. (a person's downfall caused by adverse forces/people/events - Napoleon lost power due to his defeat at the battle of Waterloo, 1815)
• He's a Casanova. (a womaniser/playboy - Venetian aristocrat and writer Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt, 1725 – 1798)
• "Five score years ago..." (opening words of Martin Luther King Jr's civil rights speech, Washington, 1963, alluding to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, 1863)

As you can see, allusions can be highly esoteric and often display a person's erudition. So, if you are not familiar with the source, an allusion might be confusing or meaningless.

Please compare reference, quotation, homage, paraphrase.