Hair Shirt
🧵 Hair Shirt: A self-imposed punishment or penance. The term hails from the medieval custom of doing penance by wearing a shirt made of coarse haircloth (a not-so-friendly blend of horsehair and wool). You’ll see it making an appearance all the way back to Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” (The Second Nun’s Tale) and securing literary relic status with a shout-out in Alexander Pope (1737): “No prelate’s lawns with hair-shirt lin’d / Is half so incoherent as my mind.”
Related Terms
📜 Sackcloth and Ashes: Another classic mode of repentance, though decidedly worse for dry-cleaning.
😒 Eat Crow: Swallow your pride and apologize, though beak and talon might provide less fiber than the hair shirt.
🎭 Masochism: While the hair shirt is an act of penance, masochism is taking it to an enjoyable extreme.
Synonyms
- Self-punishment
- Atonement
- Remorseful action
Antonyms
- Self-indulgence
- Self-forgiveness
Humor-filled Quotes
“When you willingly put on a hair shirt, just make sure it’s not dry clean only.” - Anonymous
“I tried turning my life around with a hair shirt, but I found a sweater and chocolate tended to work just as well.” - Ethel Wryword
Proverbs and References
- “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” — Alexander Pope, suggesting forgiveness might be a stylish alternative to haircloth couture.
- The Bible: Instances of sackcloth and ashes as signs of mourning and penance can be found in multiple places (e.g., Isaiah 58:5).
Literature, Books, Songs, Poetry, and Movies
📖 “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer: Dive into Middle English tales of wit, romance, and the occasional hair shirt.
📚 “Tartuffe” by Molière: Observe faux piety and hypocrisy, with no real hair shirts, mind you.
🎥 “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco: Detect monastic mysteries, secrets, and scholarly penance.
Quizzes!
Thank you for diving into the past with us. May your repentance never itch, and your literature always enlighten. Safe travels in your quest for knowledge and humor!
— Ethel Wryword
