What does warts and all mean

Walpole's authority for the attribution came from a reported conversation between John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, the first occupant of Buckingham House, now Buckingham Palace, and the house's architect, Captain William Winde. Winde claimed that:. Oliver certainly sat to him, and while sitting, said to him - "Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.

That was published in - over a hundred years after Lely painted Cromwell. Walpole included no evidence to support the attribution, nor any explanation of why no one else had mentioned the phrase in the preceding hundred years - this despite Cromwell's life being the subject of minutely detailed historical research and over full-length biographies. We can only assume he was indulging in a piece of literary speculation rather than historical documentation. The first known citation in print of the actual phrase 'warts and all' is from a 'Chinese whisper' retelling of Walpole's story - an address given by an Alpheus Cary, in Massachusetts, in When Cromwell sat for his portrait he said, "Paint me as I am, warts and all!

November 08, To top. English Intermediate Examples. Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content:. Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge. Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes. Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans. Sign up now or Log in. Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Follow us. Choose a dictionary. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English.

Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. Grammar Thesaurus. Word Lists. Choose your language. My word lists. The benefits of incumbency are quite potent, especially in the all-important area of raising campaign funds. The building used to be an all-girls school, and when it was initially purchased by Fortune it was dilapidated. She also practises etching, pen-and-ink drawing, as well as crayon and water-color sketching.

He had discovered that the all-glorious boast of Spain was not exempt from the infirmities of common men. Naturally the conversation fell on the all-absorbing topic of the day and the object of his mission. No law of that country must exceed in words the number of letters in their alphabet, which consists only in two-and-twenty.

Spurrell came down to see a horse, and we shall be very glad to have the benefit of his opinion by-and-by.