get thee behind me
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.01 in modern English
27
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
phrase
Do not tempt or torment me; I reject you, your statements, or your beliefs.
Example Sentences
- "“Jesu Maria!” exclaimed the younger. “Oh, fie, Sister Seraphina! Fie, fie!--VADE RETRO--get thee behind me!”"
- "Peter most assuredly would have risen in his wrath, would have said to his distinguished-looking temptress, "Get thee behind me, Miss Ramsbotham.""
- "Get thee behind me, Derrida! Skeptical postmodernists may have reduced the certainties of Western intellectual life to a pile of gaudy plastic tchotchkes, but Pope John Paul II is fighting back."
- "Get thee behind me, Santa. Curious news from Germany, where a group has launched a campaign to persuade people to turn their backs on Santa Claus and return to St Nicholas instead."
Etymology
Originally uttered by Christ in the King James Bible, Matthew 16:23: “get thee behind me, Satan”; Latin vāde retrō, Satanā; Ancient Greek ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ (húpage opísō mou, Satanâ).