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Ulysses vocabulary
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Saint Vitus' Dance
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synonyms: Sydenhamʼs chorea ???
tags: [pathosis]
► definition
Definition:A rare temporary neurological disease that causes involuntary muscle spasms that flow through the limbs resulting it what appears to be erratic non-rythmic dancing. There are a few varieties and causes; one of the more familiar is due to a latent childhood Streptococcal infection, viz. strep throat or scarlet fever.
► uses
Uses:
"The Soldier's Joy" has, too, an additional charm, in being so admirably adapted to the tambourine aforesaid—no mean instrument in the hands of a performer who understands the proper convulsions, spasms, St. Vitus's dances, and fearful frenzies necessary when exhibiting its tones in their highest perfection.
Thomas Hardy. Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)
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“What kind of an acrobat do you think I am?” said Charlotte in disgust. “I would have to have St. Vitus’s Dance to weave a word like that into my web.”
E. B. White. Charlotte's Web (1952)
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in order to go forward I would have to lift my feet off the pedals, and if I did so abruptly the car would shake like a person with St. Vitus Dance.
Maya Angelou. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)
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The Queen, accompanied by her family and our officer, put off in her own European boat; the Master of the Ceremonies took his station in the fore-part of the boat, turning his compass to the company, and continued, during the passage, his ridiculous harlequinades with his limbs and broad-sword, as if he had been afflicted with Saint Vitus's dance.
Otto von Kotzebue. A New Voyage Round the World in the Years 1823, 24, 25, and 26. Vol. 1
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