What does to be beyond the pale mean?
What does to be beyond the pale mean?
outside the limits of acceptable behavior or judgment
A last “ditch” attempt to thwart cattle rustlers. But once you passed “the Pale,” you were outside the authority and safety of English law, and subject to all the savageries of rural Ireland. “Beyond the pale” then became a colloquial phrase meaning “outside the limits of acceptable behavior or judgment.”
Can Pale be used as a verb?
verb (used without object), paled, pal·ing. to become pale: to pale at the sight of blood. to seem less important, remarkable, etc., especially when compared with something else: Platinum is so rare that even gold pales in comparison. to make pale.
What is the verb of Pale?
verb. paled; paling. Kids Definition of pale (Entry 2 of 2) 1 : to lose color She paled when the wound was described to her. 2 : to make or become less adequate, impressive, or intense My science project paled in comparison to those of the other students.
How do you use beyond the pale in a sentence?
So anything ‘beyond the pale’ was considered to be outside the area accepted as ‘safe’. “After he’s had a few beers his behaviour is often beyond the pale.” “Her rude comments to my friends were really beyond the pale.”
Who lived in the Pale?
At the end of the nineteenth century, close to 95 percent of the 5.3 million Jews in the Russian Empire lived in the Pale of Settlement. In early 1917, the Pale of Settlement was abolished, permitting Jews to live where they wished in the former Russian Empire.
What does it mean to go pale?
Paleness, also known as pallor, is an unusual lightness of skin color compared with your normal complexion. It’s different than having skin that’s naturally light. Paleness is not a condition in and of itself. It may be caused by reduced blood flow and oxygen or by a decreased number of red blood cells.
What does the phrase pale in comparison mean?
to seem less important
Definition of pale in/by comparison to/with : to seem less important, good, serious, etc., when compared with (something else) The afternoon meal paled in comparison to/with the feast they had later. Last year’s losses pale by comparison with this year’s.
What is the synonym of pale?
white, pallid, pasty, pasty-faced, wan, colourless, anaemic, bloodless, washed out, peaky, peakish, ashen, ashen-faced, ashy, chalky, chalk white, grey, whitish, white-faced, whey-faced, waxen, waxy, blanched, drained, pinched, green, ghastly, sickly, sallow, as white as a sheet, as white as a ghost, deathly pale.
Is it beyond the Pale or beyond the pail?
A pale is originally a stake of the kind which might make up a palisade, or enclosure. The uncontrolled territory outside was then “beyond the pale.” The expression “beyond the pale” came to mean “bizarre, beyond proper limits”; but people who don’t understand the phrase often alter the last word to “pail.”
What does the phrase beyond the veil mean?
In a mysterious or hidden place or state
phrase. In a mysterious or hidden place or state, especially the unknown state of life after death.