gild the pill
English
Etymology
Supposedly from an old pharmaceutical practice of coating bitter tasting pills with a thin layer of metal (see bitter pill).
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
gild the pill (third-person singular simple present gilds the pill, present participle gilding the pill, simple past and past participle gilded the pill)
- Synonym of sugarcoat the pill
- 1888, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, The Yeomen of the Guard […] , London: Chappel & Co., […], published c. 1911, page 17:
- For he who'd make his fellow-creatures wise / Should always gild the philosophic pill!
- 1891 May 8, Mr. Goschen, “Purchase of Land, &c.”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons):
- The chemists who first gilded the pill now sit on the Front Opposition Bench.
Translations
to make something unappealing look more attractive — see also sugarcoat
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See also
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