Allusion Examples in Everyday Speech

The use allusions are not confined to literature alone. Their occurrence is fairly common in our daily speech. Look at some common allusion examples in everyday life:

• “Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.”
– “Romeo” is a reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet, in “Romeo and Juliet”.
• The rise in poverty will unlock the Pandora’s box of crimes.
– This is an allusion to one of Greek Mythology’s origin myth, “Pandora’s box”.
• “This place is like a Garden of Eden.”
–This is a biblical allusion to the “garden of God” in the Book of Genesis.
• “Hey! Guess who the new Newton of our school is?”
– “Newton”, means a genius student, alludes to a famous scientist Isaac Newton.
• “Stop acting like my ex-husband please.”
– Apart from scholarly allusions we refer to common people and places in our speech.


Function of Allusion

• By and large, the use of allusions enables writers or poets to simplify complex ideas and emotions. The readers comprehend the complex ideas by comparing the emotions of the writer or poet to the references given by them. Furthermore, the references to Greek Mythology give a dreamlike and magical touch to the works of art. Similarly, biblical allusions appeal to the readers with religious backgrounds.