a thorn in their side

Forums: English
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Heya,

I'm writing a paper on witchhunt in English and I'm not sure if the following sentence is correct English.

"When the Christian Church started to gain power in England, the belief in witchcraft was a thorn in their side."

Is this correct English, or are their better ways of expressing that the Church did not like the fact that people also believed in witchcraft?
I would be very grateful for any answers.

Thanks very much in advance

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 1,049 • Replies: 8

No top replies

The phrase "a thorn in the side" used as a metaphor meaning a reproach and an irritant is fine in your writing that you quoted.

Allegory, metaphor and simile have three points in common,-they are all founded on resemblance.

"Ireland is like a thorn in the side of England;" -- this is simile.

"Ireland is a thorn in the side of England;" -- this is metaphor.

"Once a great giant sprang up out of the sea and lived on an island all by himself. On looking around he discovered a little girl on another small island near by. He thought the little girl could be useful to him in many ways so he determined to make her subservient to his will. He commanded her, but she refused to obey, then he resorted to very harsh measures with the little girl, but she still remained obstinate and obdurate. He continued to oppress her until finally she rebelled and became as a thorn in his side to prick him for his evil attitude towards her;"

- This is an allegory in which the giant plainly represents England and the little girl, Ireland

0 Replies

Dear Contrex,

thank you so much for your quick reply and your detailed explanation.
This is very helpful.

Merci beaucoup!

0 Replies

Re: a thorn in their side

magicaltreva wrote:

Heya,

"When the Christian Church started to gain power in England, the belief in witchcraft was a thorn in their side."

Other corrections: Lowercase c in church and change "their" to its. Church is singular and takes the singular pronoun.

0 Replies

Both of those points are open to debate. Christians often talk about "the Church" especially when they are referring to the established Church Of England or its predecessor.

Also the church can be singular or collective.

0 Replies

I'm offering U.S. usage info. Church is not a collective noun here. I agree that the capital c in church is debatable, but I'd make it lowercase in this context.

0 Replies

Thank you very much for your suggestions!

I wasn't sure whether you should say "its" or "their", so I just guessed Smile

I thought that when you spell "church" with a capital "C", it refers to the institution and when you spell it non-capitalized, it refers to the building (i.e. to a small cathedral).

I try to be as objective as possible in this paper; does it give the impression to have a very Christian attitude when you spell it with a captial "C"?

Speaking of capitalization: I spell the Christian God with a capital "G" in contrast to pagan gods which I spell non-capitalized.
But what about "devil"? In the literature I've read I found both spellings: capitalized and non-capitalized. I thought as the antagonish of God, one might spell it with a capital "D", but that's just me guessing ... and talking about the D/devil: how would you spell "S/satan"?

Thanks very much in advance for your help!

0 Replies

magicaltreva wrote:

I wasn't sure whether you should say "its" or "their", so I just guessed

You can say either.

Quote:

I thought that when you spell "church" with a capital "C", it refers to the institution and when you spell it non-capitalized, it refers to the building (i.e. to a small cathedral).

Depends. The official title of the Church Of England capitalises the word. The church near my house is a building, St Steven's Church is its name.

"Many churches don't seem to get it when it comes to comedy. I think part of that is because they are afraid to offend someone." - from a Christian blog I found.

Quote:

I try to be as objective as possible in this paper; does it give the impression to have a very Christian attitude when you spell it with a captial "C"?

You understand very well. In England, you can write "The Queen" or "The queen" depending on your attitude to the monarchy.

Quote:

Speaking of capitalization: I spell the Christian God with a capital "G" in contrast to pagan gods which I spell non-capitalized.

God is a god. "God" is his name. Therefore it is a "proper noun" and should be capitalised. Many Christians also capitalise words such as "His" and "Him", although this is less widespread than it was formerly. Sometimes they even capitalise the word "Son" when referring to Jesus.

This is a question of typography to many Christians, and is more important to some than to others.

Quote:

But what about "devil"? In the literature I've read I found both spellings: capitalized and non-capitalized. I thought as the antagonish of God, one might spell it with a capital "D", but that's just me guessing ... and talking about the D/devil: how would you spell "S/satan"?/quote]

Again, writing "The Devil" is traditional, "The devil" is more modern. Many modern Christians do not believe in a literal devil. Satan is his name (if you believe in him!) so should be capitalised.

0 Replies

Quote:

I thought that when you spell "church" with a capital "C", it refers to the institution and when you spell it non-capitalized, it refers to the building (i.e. to a small cathedral).

I agree with this usage. I'm not trained in English usage and language skills.

0 Replies

a thorn in their side

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know