Perfidious Albion

English

Etymology

Calque of French perfide Albion. First coined by French poet and playwright Augustin Louis de Ximénès at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Proper noun

Perfidious Albion

  1. (poetic or international relations, derogatory) The United Kingdom, seen as a country that is manipulative, deceptive, or treacherous on the international stage.
    Alternative form: perfidious Albion
    • 2009 March 30, Dick Cheney, quotee, “Albion, I stab at thee”, in The Economist‎[1], →ISSN:
      Vice-President Dick Cheney viewed the move by Britain—“perfidious Albion,” as he put it—as “a stab in the back,” according to a former senior intelligence official.

Translations

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