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To "trip the light fantastic" is to dance nimbly or lightly, or to move in a pattern to musical accompaniment. It is often used in a humorous vein.〔Kirkpatrick, Betty and Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth McLaren (1999) "light fantastic" ''Clichés: Over 1500 Phrases Explored and Explained'' Macmillan, New York, (page 115 ), ISBN 978-0-312-19844-2〕〔Jarvie, Gordon (2009) "Trip" ''Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms'' A & C Black, London, (page 652 ), ISBN 978-1-4081-2492-5〕 As early as 1908 it was viewed as a cliché or hackneyed phrase.〔Armstrong, Robert A.(January 1908) "Correct English" ''The West Virginia School Journal'' 36(10): pp. 18–19, (page 19 )〕 Grammatically, it is an example of a constructionally idiosyncratic idiom,〔Chafe, Wallace L. (May 1968) "Idiomaticity as an Anomaly in the Chomskyan Paradigm" ''Foundations of Language'' 4(2): pp. 109–127, page 111〕 in that it is impossible to construct a meaningful literal-scene from the formal structure.〔Langlotz, Andreas (2006) ''Idiomatic Creativity: A Cognitive-Linguistic Model of Idiom-Representation and Idiom-Variation in English'' John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, (page 132 ), ISBN 978-90-272-2370-8〕 As such it should be viewed as a catena. == History == This phrase evolved through a series of usages and references. The phrase is typically attributed to Milton's 1645 poem ''L'Allegro'',〔〔Smith, Chrysti M. (2006) "Trip the Light Fantastic" ''Verbivore's Feast: Second Course: More Word & Phrase Origins'' Farcountry Press, Helena, Montana, (page 320 ), ISBN 978-1-56037-404-6〕 which includes the lines
The imagery of tripping on toes also appears in Shakespeare's ''The Tempest'': "Before you can say come, and goe, / And breathe twice; and cry, so, so: / Each one tripping on his Toe, / Will be here with mop, and mowe." This expression became popular from the American song "Sidewalks of New York" (melody and text by Charles B. Lawlor and James W. Blake) in 1894.〔 Part of the chorus: "Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rourke / Tripped the light fantastic / On the sidewalks of New York." Chester Himes uses a variation on the phrase: "Colored boys and girls in ski ensembles and ballet skirts were skating the light fantastic at two o'clock ... " 〔 Himes, Chester; All Shot Up. 1960. Pegasus 2007 p. 101〕 In 1967, English rock band Procol Harum released its hit song, "A Whiter Shade of Pale", with lyrics by Keith Reid, that included a play on the phrase with "skip the light fandango," casting Milton's light and nimble dancing in a modernist perspective:〔 More recent usage includes a line from Quentin Tarantino's movie ''Inglourious Basterds,'' and a song title on electronica artist BT's debut album, ''Ima.''〔()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Trip the light fantastic (phrase)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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