Well well. I was following a link on Swedish TV, leading to a music programme, but who should pop up but or dear old friend the Emperor! Seriously though, I had not appreciated that the old story is clearly alive and kicking in languages other than English.........
Hans Christian Anderson.
ReplyDeleteQuite right you are -- I should have remembered that! So there was a Danish version of the tale! But on checking it out, it appears that the story has been around for a long time, with Spanish and German versions well before HCA wrote his story...... which has become a standard metaphor for anything that smacks of pretentiousness, pomposity, social hypocrisy, collective denial, or hollow ostentatiousness.
ReplyDeleteEx - PM? Whatsisname......
ReplyDelete