Trip the light fantastic (phrase)

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To "trip the light fantastic" is to dance nimbly or lightly, or to move in a pattern to musical accompaniment. The phrase has odd historical origins.

[edit] References

This phrase evolved through an interesting series of usages and references. The phrase is typically attributed to Milton's poem L'Allegro, but a somewhat similar phrase appears in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The phrase in this modern usage comes from the lyrics of the song The Sidewalks of New York. The following chronological list outlines a few notable usages of this and similar sounding phrases.

The phrase 'tripping on his toe' appears in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, written in 1611:

Before you can say come, and goe,

And breathe twice; and cry, so, so:

Each one tripping on his Toe,

Will be here with mop, and mowe.

In this context, "mop, and mowe" means 'a grimace'.

In the poem L'Allegro by John Milton, published in 1645, a similar phrase appears, which seemingly refers to the dance-like gracefulness of the goddess Mirth:

Come, and trip it as ye go,

On the light fantastick toe.

And in thy right hand lead with thee,

The Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty;

The term trip in this passage means to step lightly or nimbly. The adjectives light and fantastick (as Milton spelled it) refer to the movement of the feet (toe, or dance step).

William Makepeace Thackeray borrows this phrase in Men’s Wives (published in 1843), as an elegant and humorous reference to dancing:

Mrs. Crump sat in a little bar, profusely ornamented with pictures of the dancers of all ages, from Hillisberg, Rose, Parisot, who plied the light fantastic toe in 1805, down to the Sylphides of our day.

This expression became popular from the song "The Sidewalks of New York" (melody and text by Chas B. Lawlor and James W. Blake) in 1894.

Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rourke

Tripped the light fantastic

on the sidewalks of New York

Since this time, the phrase 'trip the light fantastic' has been used in several modern contexts. One of the more interesting evolutions of the phrase is in the 1960s ballad A Whiter Shade of Pale, by the rock group Procol Harum.

We skipped the light fandango,

Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

I was feeling kinda seasick

But the crowd called out for more

The phrase 'skipped the light fandango' also refers to dancing; the Fandango is a lively Spanish dance accompanied by castanets.

This is also the title of an album by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The phrase was also used in the film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Zaphod Beeblebrox.

The phrase appears in the song "Walking in the rain" by Grace Jones, in the "Island Life" album.

The phrase has also been reworked to draw out its metaphysical undertones. Terry Pratchett's second Discworld novel, The Light Fantastic, uses the term to describe the opposite of light. Not darkness, but rather as far from darkness as normal light, but in the opposite direction. Cambridge historian Simon Schaffer's BBC series Light Fantastic uses the theme of light to explore the development of science.

The phrase appears in the 1997 film "L.A. Confidential" when the character of Sid Hudgens (played by Danny DeVito) refers to two young pot-smokers as "tripping the light fantastic." In this instance the phrase is used ironically and plays off the contemporary slang usage of "trip" referring to taking drugs, specifically hallucinogenics. This updated meaning of the phrase is made possible by the earlier truncating of "toe" off the end, so that "trip the light fantastic toe" becomes simply "trip the light fantastic," where "light" and "fantastic" cease to modify "toe," and now "fantastic" simply modifies "light." The new meaning that now arises from the phrase is to take a mental journey on hallucinogenic drugs.

The phrase also appears in the film version of TInker Tailor Soldier Spy: "Tripping the light fantastic through the whitehall coridors"

"Tripping the light fantastic" has been used in reference to the triggering of a green traffic signal by deliberately activating an in-pavement sensor approaching an intersection. Bicyclists in particular often find triggering the sensor requires skill and luck (the rider typically must track a narrow groove in the pavement over the sensor wire), and the expression, used by a bicyclist, seems to capture well both the delicacy of the operation and the euphoric sensation experienced when the signal is made to turn green before a stop is necessary.

The expression may also refer to setting in motion some operation, often complex, by means of a triggering device.