Fancy Free




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Fancy Free : Phrases



Meaning:

Without any ties or commitments.


Example:







Origin:

From Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1590:

OBERON:

That very time I saw, but thou couldst not,
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid all arm'd: a certain aim he took
At a fair vestal throned by the west,
And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts;
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon,
And the imperial votaress passed on,
In maiden meditation, fancy-free.

The extended term 'footloose and fancy-free' is 20th century in origin.







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