Gordian knot

English 2006 July 14 Gordian Knot Etymology From the name of a legendary knot tied to a pole near the temple of Zeus in Gordion. It was prophesied that whoever loosed the knot would become ruler of all Asia. Alexander the Great solved the puzzle by slicing through the knot and took it as a sign of Zeus' favor. He then proceeded to conquer much of the known world at that time. Pronunciation en /ˈɡɔːdɪən ˈnɒt/ RP en /ˈɡoʊɹdɪən ˈnɑt/ US en en-us-Gordian knot.ogg US Noun en Greek mythology The legendary knot tied to a pole near the temple of Zeus in Gordium. en by extension Any intricate and complex problem having a simple solution. i 1 List his discourse of war, and you shall hearA fearful battle rend'red you in music;Turn him to any cause of policy,The Gordian knot of it he will unloose. en August 19 1785 w:Thomas Jefferson Letter to Peter Carr The knot which you thought a Gordian one, will untie itself before you. The Late Mr. Horne Tooke Mr. Tooke thought he had answered this question satisfactorily, and loosened the Gordian knot of grammarians, “familiar as his garter,” when he said, “It is the common pronoun, adjective, or participle, that, with the noun, thing or proposition, implied, and the particular example following it.” en 1881 w:James Greenwood s:Low-Life Deeps 10 The right hon. gentleman, who was doubtless aware of the popularity of the old English saying, "what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander," shrewdly judged that he could not go far wrong if he cut the Gordian knot in which the publican's disagreement was bound, by declaring his conviction that what was good for the Crown and Cushion, in the Strand, was likewise good for the Three Jolly Tinkers, in Brick Lane; and that, to put an end to the vexed question, the shortest way would be to tar them all with the same brush. Derived terms en cut the Gordian knot Related terms en Gordius en Gordium Translations mythical knot Armenian: hy գորդյան հանգույց Belarusian: be го́рдзіеў ву́зел m Bulgarian: bg го́рдиев въ́зел m Catalan: ca nus gordià m Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 戈耳狄俄斯之結 Gē'ěrdí'ésī zhī jié Czech: cs gordický uzel m Danish: da gordisk knude c Finnish: fi Gordionin solmu French: fr nœud gordien m German: de Gordischer Knoten Greek: el γόρδιος δεσμός m Hungarian: hu gordiuszi csomó Icelandic: is Gordíans hnúturinn m Italian: it nodo gordiano m Japanese: ja ゴルディオスの結び目 ゴルディオスのむすびめ, gorudiosu no musubime Limburgish: li Górdische knoup m Macedonian: mk гордиев јазол m Norwegian: no gordisk knute m Pannonian Rusyn: rsk Ґордийов ґузел m Polish: pl węzeł gordyjski m Portuguese: pt nó górdio m Romanian: ro nod gordian n Russian: ru го́рдиев у́зел m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: sh Гордијев чвор m Latin: sh Gordijev čvor m Slovak: sk gordický uzol m Slovene: sl gordijski vozel m Spanish: es nudo gordiano m Swedish: sv gordisk knut c Ukrainian: uk го́рдіїв ву́зол m intricate problem Albanian: sq nyja gordiane Armenian: hy գորդյան հանգույց Czech: cs gordický uzel m Danish: da gordisk knude c Dutch: nl gordiaanse knoop m Finnish: fi Gordionin solmu French: fr nœud gordien m Greek: el γόρδιος δεσμός m Hungarian: hu gordiuszi csomó Icelandic: is Gordíans hnúturinn m Italian: it nodo gordiano m Japanese: ja ゴルディオスの結び目 ゴルディオスのむすびめ, gorudiosu no musubime Limburgish: li Górdische knoup m Norwegian: no gordisk knute m Polish: pl węzeł gordyjski m Portuguese: pt nó górdio m Romanian: ro nod gordian n Russian: ru го́рдиев у́зел m Slovene: sl gordijski vozel m Spanish: es nudo gordiano m Swedish: sv gordisk knut c Ukrainian: uk го́рдіїв ву́зол m en Knots en terms derived from toponyms terms derived from Greek mythology en 4-syllable words