March 20, 2001

trip the light fantastic

Trip the light fantastic or skip the light fandango--What on earth is the origin of these colorful but mysterious figures of speech? I've only been able to come up with a definition of "fandango" as a fast dance.

Trip the light fantastic means 'to dance', the verb trip meaning 'to step lightly and nimbly'. Probably the best-known use of this fixed expression is in the 1894 song, "Sidewalks of New York." Here's part of the chorus: "Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rourke / Tripped the light fantastic / On the sidewalks of New York."

Trip the light fantastic is a strange alteration of lines from L'Allegro, a poem by John Milton, written in 1632: "Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee / Jest, and youthful Jollity,.../ Sport that wrinkled Care derides, / And Laughter holding both his sides. / Come, and trip it as you go, / On the light fantastick toe." Here, Milton seems to be describing the "light" (nimble) and "fantastick" (fanciful or fancy) footwork that is characteristic of dancing. Milton's lines were occasionally echoed by later writers, as the following example shows: "Mr. St. Ledger...prided himself...on his light fantastic toe" (Disraeli, Vivian Grey). Other authors have used the term "fantastic-footed" to refer to fancy footwork--reference to feet rather than toes does seem to make more sense.

Though trip the light fantastic goes back to Milton's poem, reference to "tripping (it) on one's toe" is found in Shakespeare's The Tempest, written in 1611: "Before you can say come, and goe, / And breathe twice; and cry, so, so: / Each one tripping on his Toe, / Will be here with mop, and mowe." (Here, "mop, and mowe" means 'a grimace').

Now, strange as it may seem, the lines from John Milton are recalled several centuries later in "A Whiter Shade of Pale," a 1960s ballad sung by the rock group Procol Harum. This time Milton's lines take on new life in the expression skip the light fandango, also meaning 'to dance'. (The "fandango" is a lively Spanish dance accompanied by castanets.) This rock ballad is about a man who has had too much to drink, and dances with a woman, maybe in a barroom or dance hall. Here are some of the song's lyrics: "We skipped the light fandango, / Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor / I was feeling kinda seasick / But the crowd called out for more."

Incidentally, the story told in "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is said to parallel the plot of Tam O'Shanter, a poem written in 1791 by the Scots poet Robert Burns. This poem is about Tam, a drunken man who passes by an old church late at night and sees a group of witches dancing to bagpipe music: "Warlocks and witches in a dance; / Nae cotillion brent-new frae France / But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels, / Put life and mettle in their heels."

So trip the light fantastic and skip the light fandango are expressions that describe dancing, maybe drunken and wild dancing, and both have their roots in poetry and songs about nymphs, witches, and wild women.

Carol