Meaning & Analysis
To dress in a coarse, inexpensive gray fabric worn by commoners, shepherds, and country folk in the 17th century. The names 'mutton-taffety' and 'beggar's velvet' are ironic descriptions for this cheap material.
Insights
False Pretense
The phrase metaphorically signifies an act of false pretense, where something common or inferior is presented with a deceptively grand name or appearance. It is a critique of putting on airs or feigning a quality one does not possess.
Adopted Humility
It can also mean to intentionally adopt a humble or impoverished appearance, either out of necessity or as a deliberate choice to appear unpretentious or to deceive others.
Marker of Social Status
The proverb serves as a clear marker of social class, symbolizing the adoption of a lower-class identity through clothing. To 'put on mutton-taffety' is to visibly align oneself with the common folk.
Social and Material Culture
The proverb offers a window into 17th-century social stratification, where clothing was a primary indicator of class. The ironic terms 'mutton-taffety' and 'beggar's velvet' reflect a satirical social commentary on the attire of the working class, viewed from a more privileged perspective.
Linguistic Irony
The names themselves are a form of folk wit, using irony to bridge the gap between aspirational luxury (velvet, taffeta) and rustic reality (mutton, beggar). This linguistic creativity encodes class distinctions and attitudes into everyday language.
Psychology of Pretense
The phrase delves into the psychology of appearance versus reality. It highlights the human tendency to either accept one's humble station or to create a facade of higher status, revealing anxieties about social mobility and perception.
Rhetorical Devices
Irony
The central device is irony, as luxurious fabric names ('taffety', 'velvet') are used to describe a coarse, cheap material, creating a satirical effect that mocks pretense.
Oxymoron
The phrase 'beggar's velvet' is a striking oxymoron, combining terms of extreme poverty and wealth to highlight the stark contrast between the material's reality and its name.
Symbolism
The fabric itself becomes a powerful symbol for social status, poverty, and the gap between appearance and reality, encapsulating complex social ideas in a tangible object.
Transcription
Quotations
A gray Country Stuff that Clowns do wear in Summer; that resists against the water, as a Camelot; The English say, Mutton Taffety.
To put on tripe Velvet, viz. to clothe meanly, like Shepheards and Vine-keepers, to put on Beggers Velvet, or Mutton Taffety, as the English say.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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