Pithy, evocative imagery in three-legged microcosms of meaning. Having coined the term ‘triologism’ I believe this to be the only collection of these tum-tee-tum phrases in the universe. Updated Tuesdays … triologism day!

Three-cornered chair

It is years - decades - since I saw one of these, but I grew up with an oak one,...

Many-coloured shield

A rich description of 17th century London, this appears to refer to Westminster Abbey, with lights brightly burning inside.

'Now...

Night-capped Normans

Hard to think of the Normans as being 'night-capped' as in my English mind, they are more a memory of...

Scum-skinned tide

Something alarmingly contemporary about this polluted surface in Dante's Inferno, especially when he discerns, through the miasma, dead souls fleeing.

...

Miracle-breeding imagination

What a wonderful concept, part of a lavish description of a man's character by Mark Twain. Worth mentioning that these...

Plaid-like juxtapositions

Orlando, born in the 16th century and at home in the 17th and 18th, seems to suffer aesthetic culture shock...

World-class Achilles

World-class Achilles – as a warrior yes, but as a man, there are other Homeric heroes more admirable, though most...

Plump and pudgy

Pang is the word for ‘fat’, and combined with huhu it means ‘chubby’, ‘plump’ or ‘pudgy’. It would be a...

Squashed-fly biscuit

A hard, flat, rectangular British biscuit formally called ‘Garibaldi’, we called them ‘squashed-fly biscuits’ because of the tiny dark currants that...