An Elephant of a Different Color

An Elephant of a Different Color An Elephant of a Different Color An Elephant of a Different Color By Maeve Maddox The word elephant is one of my favorites. I love the magnificent creature to which it refers, and it’s fun to say. English has several metaphorical expressions that refer to elephants. pink elephants: hallucinations supposedly experienced by those who have drunk to excess white elephant: a possession of little use that is costly to maintain; property that is difficult to sell The expression is usually explained by citing a king of Siam who used to make a present of a white elephant to courtiers whom he wished to ruin. White elephants were considered sacred, so they couldn’t be put to work, and they were costly to care for. The term is used in the real estate industry to refer to overpriced properties belonging to celebrities: â€Å"what in the industry are called ‘white elephants’–properties that are rare, large, expensive and hard to move.† white elephant sale: a rummage sale A rummage sale provides the opportunity to get rid of useless objects by selling them to others who must then take care of them. rogue elephant: a vicious dangerous elephant that lives apart from the herd. The term rogue elephant is not metaphorical, but one use of the word rogue derives from it. In the essay â€Å"Shooting an Elephant,† Orwell explains the difference between a rogue elephant and a tame bull elephant experiencing must. (Musth or must is a periodic condition in bull elephants characterized by highly aggressive behavior.) The tame elephant will be violent for a time, but then return to a docile state. During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, a campaign aide described Sarah Palin as â€Å"going rogue†; Palin later used the expression as a book title. to see the elephant: to go on an adventure; to gain experience of life Young men leaving home to seek wealth in the California gold fields said they were â€Å"going to see the elephant.† When their dreams didn’t pan out, and they returned home empty-handed, they said they’d â€Å"seen the elephant.† The expression probably originated from much earlier times when elephants were an extremely rare sight, and people who wanted to see one had to undertake an arduous, adventurous journey. the elephant in the room: a serious topic that everyone is aware of, but which no one wishes to talk about openly According to the Ngram Viewer, â€Å"elephant in the room† was in use as early as 1859, but its climb to its present popularity began in the 1980s. So ubiquitous has it become, speakers are running variations on it, talking about the â€Å"big elephant in the room,† the â€Å"ginormous elephant in the room,† the â€Å"pink elephant in the room,† the â€Å"white elephant in the room,† and even the â€Å"blue elephant in the room.† Sometimes the variations are meant to be clever, like calling a pink mansion difficult to sell, a â€Å"pink elephant,† or calling the problem of pornography and cursing a â€Å"blue elephant,† because cursing is said to turn the air blue. Sometimes the variations seem the result of mere confusion. For example, the adjective pink is added so often as to suggest that the association of â€Å"pink elephants† with delirium tremens has been forgotten. For example, Actually, if your organization is currently going through a change,  employees and customers are probably talking about it as you read this. So it would be best if you addressed that â€Å"pink elephant†Ã‚  in the room and nip that â€Å"water cooler† talk in the bud as soon as possible! While it might be the pink elephant in the room, it is important to point out the increased likelihood, or at least temptation, of corruption when the teacher is administering both the pretest and post-test. (This is from an article that suggests that teachers may be cheating when administering standardized tests.) The meaning of the elephant in the room seems to be slipping away. At a writing conference, I heard an author refer to Amazon.com as â€Å"the elephant in the room,† not in the sense of something not to be talked about, but as â€Å"the largest presence† in publishing. The once vivid expression â€Å"the elephant in the room† has become so clichà ©d that writers who can’t come up with a new metaphor to express the idea would do better to say, â€Å"the problem no one wants to acknowledge.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Beautiful and Ugly Words"Latter," not "Ladder"Shore It Up

Emperor Montezuma Before the Spanish Arrived

Emperor Montezuma Before the Spanish Arrived Emperor Montezuma Xocoyotzà ­n (other spellings include Motecuzoma and Moctezuma) is remembered by history as the indecisive leader of the Mexica Empire who let Hernan Cortes and his conquistadors into the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan virtually unopposed. Although it is true that Montezuma was unsure of how to deal with the Spaniards and that his indecision led in no small measure to the downfall of the Aztec Empire, this is only part of the story. Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, Montezuma was a renowned war leader, skilled diplomat and an able leader of his people who oversaw the consolidation of the Mexica Empire. A Prince of the Mexica Montezuma was born in 1467, a prince of the royal family of the Mexica Empire. Not one hundred years before Montezumas birth, the Mexica had been an outsider tribe in the Valley of Mexico, vassals of the mighty Tepanecs. During the reign of Mexica leader Itzcotl, however, the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tacuba was formed and together they overthrew the Tepanecs. Successive emperors had expanded the empire, and by 1467 the Mexica were the unquestioned leaders of the Valley of Mexico and beyond. Montezuma was born for greatness: he was named after his grandfather Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, one of the greatest Tlatoanis or Emperors of the Mexica. Montezumas Father Axaycatl and his uncles Tà ­zoc and Ahuà ­tzotl had also been tlatoque (emperors). His name Montezuma meant he who makes himself angry, and Xocoyotzà ­n meant the younger to distinguish him from his grandfather. The Mexica Empire in 1502 In 1502, Montezumas uncle Ahuitzotl, who had served as emperor since 1486, died. He left an organized, massive Empire which stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific and covered most of present-day Central Mexico. Ahuitzotl had roughly doubled the area controlled by the Aztecs, launching conquests to the north, northeast, west and south. The conquered tribes were made vassals of the mighty Mexica and forced to send quantities of food, goods, slaves and sacrifices to Tenochtitlan. Succession of Montezuma as Tlatoani The ruler of the Mexica was called the Tlatoani, which means speaker or he who commands. When it came time to select a new ruler, the Mexica did not automatically select the previous rulers eldest son like they did in Europe. When the old Tlatoani died, a council of elders of the royal family came together to select the next one. The candidates could include all male, high-born relatives of the previous Tlatoani, but since the elders were looking for a younger man with proven battlefield and diplomatic experience, in reality they were choosing from a limited pool of several candidates. As a young prince of the royal family, Montezuma had been trained for warfare, politics, religion and diplomacy from an early age. When his uncle died in 1502, Montezuma was thirty-five years old and had distinguished himself as a warrior, general and diplomat. He had also served as a high priest. He was active in the various conquests undertaken by his uncle Ahuitzotl. Montezuma was a strong candidate, but was by no means his uncles undlisputed successor. He was elected by the elders, however, and became Tlatoani in 1502. Coronation of Montezuma A Mexica coronation was a drawn-out, splendid affair. Montezuma first went into a spiritual retreat for a few days, fasting and praying. Once that was done, there was music, dancing, festivals, feasts and the arrival of visiting nobility from allied and vassal cities. On the day of the coronation, the lords of Tacuba and Tezcoco, the most important allies of the Mexica, crowned Montezuma, because only a reigning sovereign could crown another. Once he had been crowned, Montezuma had to be confirmed. The first major step was to carry out a military campaign for the purposes of acquiring sacrificial victims for the ceremonies. Montezuma chose to war against Nopallan and Icpatepec, vassals of the Mexica who were currently in rebellion. These were in the present-day Mexican State of Oaxaca. The campaigns went smoothly; many captives were brought back to Tenochtitlan and the two rebellious city-states began paying tribute to the Aztecs.   With the sacrifices ready, it was time to confirm Montezuma as tlatoani. Great lords came from all over the Empire once again, and at a great dance led by the rulers of Tezcoco and Tacuba, Montezuma appeared in a wreath of incense smoke. Now it was official: Montezuma was the ninth tlatoani of the mighty Mexica Empire. After this appearance, Montezuma formally handed out offices to his highest ranking officials. Finally, the captives taken in battle were sacrificed. As tlatoani, he was the maximum political, military and religious figure in the land: like a king, general and pope all rolled into one. Montezuma Tlatoani The new Tlatoani had a completely different style from his predecessor, his uncle Ahuitzotl. Montezuma was an elitist: he abolished the title of quauhpilli, which meant Eagle Lord and was awarded to soldiers of common birth who had shown great courage and aptitude in battle and warfare. Instead, he filled all military and civil positions with members of the noble class. He removed or killed many of Ahutzotls top officials. The policy of reserving important posts for the nobility strengthened the Mexica hold on allied states, however. The royal court at Tenochtitlan was home to many princes of allies, who were there as hostages against the good behavior of their city-states, but they were also educated and had many opportunities in the Aztec army. Montezuma allowed them to rise in military ranks, binding them - and their families - to the tlatoani. As tlatoani, Montezuma lived a luxurious life. He had one main wife named Teotlalco, a princess from Tula of Toltec descent, and several other wives, most of them princesses of important families of allied or subjugated city-states. He also had countless concubines and he had many children by these different women. He lived in his own palace in Tenochtitlan, where he ate off of plates reserved for only him, waited on by a legion of servant boys. He changed clothes frequently and never wore the same tunic twice. He enjoyed music and there were many musicians and their instruments at his palace. War and Conquest Under Montezuma During Montezuma Xocoyotzà ­ns reign, the Mexica were in a near-constant state of war. Like his predecessors, Montezuma was charged with preserving the lands he inherited and expanding the empire. Because he inherited a large empire, much of which had been added by his predecessor Ahuitzotl, Montezuma primarily concerned himself with maintaining the empire and defeating those isolated holdout states within the Aztec sphere of influence. In addition, Montezumas armies fought frequent Flower Wars against other city states: the main purpose of these wars was not subjugation and conquest, but rather a chance for both sides to take prisoners for sacrifice in a limited military engagement.   Montezuma enjoyed mostly successes in his wars of conquest. Much of the fiercest fighting took place to the south and east of Tenochtitlan, where the various city-states of the Huaxyacac resisted Aztec rule. Montezuma was eventually victorious in bringing the region to heel. Once the troublesome peoples of the Huaxyacac tribes had been subjugated, Montezuma turned his attention to the north, where warlike Chichimec tribes still ruled, defeating the cities of Mollanco and Tlachinolticpac. Meanwhile, the stubborn region of Tlaxcala remained defiant. It was a region made up of some 200 smallish city-states led by the Tlaxcalan people united in their hatred of the Aztecs, and none of Montezumas predecessors had been able to defeat it. Montezuma tried several times to defeat the Tlaxcalans, launching large campaigns in 1503 and again in 1515. Each attempt to subjugate the fierce Tlaxcalans ended in defeat for the Mexica. This failure to neutralize their traditional enemies would come back to haunt Montezuma: in 1519, Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors befriended the Tlaxcalans, who proved to be invaluable allies against the Mexica, their most hated foe. Montezuma in 1519 In 1519, when Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors invaded, Montezuma was at the height of his power. He ruled an empire which stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific and could summon more than a million warriors. Although he was firm and decisive in dealing with his empire, he was weak when faced with the unknown invaders, which in part led to his downfall. Resources and Further Reading Berdan, Frances: Moctezuma II: la Expansion del Imperio Mexica. Arqueologà ­a Mexicana XVII - 98 (July-August 2009) 47-53.Hassig, Ross. Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.Levy, Buddy. . New York: Bantam, 2008.Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo. Moctezuma II: la Gloria del Imperio. Arqueologà ­a Mexicana XVII - 98 (July-August 2009) 54-60.Smith, Michael. The Aztecs. 1988. Chichester: Wiley, Blackwell. Third Edition, 2012.Thomas, Hugh. . New York: Touchstone, 1993.Townsend, Richard F. The Aztecs. 1992, London: Thames and Hudson. Third Edition, 2009Vela, Enrique. Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, El que se muestra enojado, el joven. Arqueologia Mexicana Ed. Especial 40 (Oct 2011), 66-73.