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Examples
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The V&A has an excellent one from Royal Worcester, a greenery-yallery couple back-to-back, their arms precisely forming the handle and spout.
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The early Liberty gowns are gorgeous partly because theyre so much softer and less structured than other dresses of the period, but they did get made fun of in the greenery-yallery, Grosvenor Gallery, Gilbert and Sullivan sense.
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The early Liberty gowns are gorgeous partly because theyre so much softer and less structured than other dresses of the period, but they did get made fun of in the greenery-yallery, Grosvenor Gallery, Gilbert and Sullivan sense.
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During the earlier part of the century taste was bad, during the middle it was beyond criticism, and from then to the time of the "greenery-yallery" æsthetic revival all and everything made by woman's fingers ought to be buried, burnt, or otherwise destroyed.
Chats on Old Lace and Needlework Emily Leigh Lowes
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Mr. Padgett had painted the large picture called "Ladye Myne" -- a burlesque of the "greenery-yallery" type then in fashion at the Grosvenor Gallery; and the departure of the apostle of the movement from these shores for the United States inspired the painter with the words and the drawing of the mourning "Ariadne," which were shown to the Editor of _Punch_ and forthwith inserted.
The History of "Punch" M. H. Spielmann
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It happened in this way, on a day when I was indulging in a particularly greenery-yallery fit of gloom.
Dawn O'Hara, the Girl Who Laughed Edna Ferber 1926
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Things that look greenery-yallery at night always turn pink in the morning.
Dawn O'Hara, the Girl Who Laughed Edna Ferber 1926
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Bless your soul! they walked once around the cottage in a lazy, indifferent, supercilious way, hardly glancing at their "new cousins," then Preciosa yawned, tiptoed back to her place on the rug, doubled her toes in under her, and half closed her "greenery-yallery" eyes in real, or simulated slumber.
When Grandmamma Was New The Story of a Virginia Childhood Marion Harland 1876
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This is a survey of the Aesthetic Movement, a greenery-yallery, weirdsly-Beardsley revolt against Victorian philistinism in art, architecture and the decorative arts, supported by such prominent writers as Swinburne, Wilde and Pater, with
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"You needn't wear 'greenery-yallery' gowns, you know." said George, laughing; "that's the one unpardonable thing.
Sir George Tressady — Volume I Humphry Ward 1885
sionnach commented on the word greenery-yallery
Implying the decadence and affectation of artists, as supposedly embodied in the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th century. Coined by Gilbert & Sullivan in "Patience":
A pallid and thin young man,
A haggard and lank young man,
A greenery-yallery, Grosvenor Gallery,
Foot-in-the-grave young man!
Another usage example may be found here:
a slender, middle-aged, long-faced, nervous, greenery-yallery cavalier.
February 23, 2010