Cloak and dagger
"Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common by the time of the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery.
Overview
The earliest written use of the phrase can be attributed to English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in "The Knight's Tale", published around 1400.[1]
The metaphorical meaning of the phrase dates from the early 19th century. It is a translation from the French de cape et d'épée[2] and Spanish de capa y espada ("of cloak and sword"). These phrases referred to a genre of swashbuckler drama in which the main characters wore these items. In 1840, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "In the afternoon read La Dama Duende of Calderón – a very good comedy of 'cloak and sword'." Charles Dickens subsequently used the phrase "cloak and dagger" in his work Barnaby Rudge a year later as a sarcastic reference to this style of drama.[3]
The imagery of the two items became associated with the archetypal spy or assassin: the cloak, worn to hide one's identity or remain hidden from view, and the dagger, a concealable and silent weapon.
References
- ^ Chaucer, Geoffrey. "1.2 The Knight's Tale". Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website. Harvard. Line 1999. Archived (Internet Archive) from the original on 2024-12-31. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
The smylere with the knyf under the cloke;
[The smiler with the knife under the cloak;] - ^ "Cloak and dagger". Oxford English Dictionary. March 2024 [1891]. doi:10.1093/OED/1005727492. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Dickens, Charles (1841). Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 203. ISBN 0-14-043728-2.
...his servant brought in a very small scrap of dirty paper, tightly sealed in two places, on the inside whereof was inscribed in pretty large text these words: A friend. Desiring of a conference. Immediate. Private. Burn it when you've read it. "Where in the name of the Gunpowder Plot did you pick up this?" said his master. "It was given him by a person then waiting at the door", the man replied. "With a cloak and dagger?" said Mr Chester.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)