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On the light fantastick toe, In Milton's use the word "trip" means to "dance nimbly" and "fantastic" suggests "extremely fancy". "Light fantastic" refers to the word toe, and "toe" refers to a dancer's "footwork". "Toe" has since disappeared from the idiom, which then becomes: "trip the light fantastic". [6]
To dance, especially in an imaginative or ‘fantastic’ manner. What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Trip the light fantastic’? This apparently obscure expression originates from the works of John Milton. In the masque Comus, 1637, he used the lines: Come, knit hands, and beat the ground, In a light fantastic round.
Aug 10, 2022 · One thing is certain: Trip the light fantastic has tripped its way from early modern England to the present day as blithely and fantastically as a nimble dancer. While it has always...
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Trip the light fantastic - 7 Phrases from the World of Dance | Merriam-Webster. Wordplay Arts & Culture. 7 Phrases from the World of Dance. Words from the sprightly world of dance. It takes two to tango. Many dances are styled for two partners, so why does the tango get singled out in this phrase?
Trip the light fantastic is an imaginative idiomatic phrase that refers to lively movement. It evokes a vivid image of graceful and joyful movement, often associated with dancing. Its origins can be traced back to the poem “L’Allegro” by John Milton, written in 1631.
- English Teacher
Dec 1, 2010 · Dec 1, 2010 at 15:43. Part of your problem with understanding this phrase is that you are reading 'light' as a noun when it's actually a adjective (light as the opposite of heavy, not light as illumination). In similar contexts it can also be used to form the adverb lightly ("go lightly on the ledge babe": Bob Dylan).
'Trip the light fantastic' means to dance nimbly and gracefully. Strictly speaking, it represents an adaptation of a poetical concept that was coined by Milton in L’Allegro (1632): "Come, and trip it, as you go, on the light fantastick toe."
