Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
plays them up
English answer:
leads them / accompanies them to their death, playing music to which they dance
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
May 8, 2017 18:12
7 yrs ago
English term
plays them up
Non-PRO
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
history, 1600
To further his understanding of the locals, Jerome has purchased The History of Scotland, written in Latin by Hector Boece. Within its pages he – and, a few decades later, William Shakespeare, via Holinshed – first encounters the macabre tale of the Scottish king, Macbeth. Jerome is also enthralled by the “most wonderful” fortitude of the Scots, who take a piper with them to their executions: “he, who is himself often one of the condemned, plays them up dancing to their death.”
Responses
Change log
May 10, 2017 08:40: Yvonne Gallagher changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
May 13, 2017 05:45: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:
Non-PRO (3): Tony M, B D Finch, Yvonne Gallagher
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Responses
+8
43 mins
Selected
leads them / accompanies them to their death, playing music to which they dance
"Play up" can mean to accentuate the importance of something; but that's not what it means here. This passage, which Cardano is using to illustrate the fortitude of the Scots, means that the piper accompanies them or leads them up to death, playing music, to which the condemned prisoners dance, showing how brave and unconcerned they are even though they are about to die.
So "plays them up to their death" means "plays while they go to their death".
This is quoted in Morley's life of Cardano:
https://books.google.es/books?redir_esc=y&id=Xz4DAAAAYAAJ&q=...
It comes from Cardano's dialogue De Morte, whose Spanish translator, José Manuel García Valverde, has kindly posted the original Latin text and his translation on academic.com (you have to register, but it's free). Here they are:
LAT: "pulsando saltantes illos ducit ad mortem"
SP: "tocando los conduce danzantes a la muerte"
http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/48886141/TEXT... (pp. 59, 60, near top).
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-05-08 19:21:39 GMT)
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Sorry; the site I mentioned is called academia.edu, not academic.com.
Cardano's Latin text (as you probably don't me to tell you) literally means:
"playing, he leads them dancing to death".
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-05-08 19:25:26 GMT)
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And my reference to the Valverde edition was wrong; the Latin is at the top of p. 60 (p. 108 of the file), and the Spanish is near the top of p. 61 (p. 109 of the file).
So "plays them up to their death" means "plays while they go to their death".
This is quoted in Morley's life of Cardano:
https://books.google.es/books?redir_esc=y&id=Xz4DAAAAYAAJ&q=...
It comes from Cardano's dialogue De Morte, whose Spanish translator, José Manuel García Valverde, has kindly posted the original Latin text and his translation on academic.com (you have to register, but it's free). Here they are:
LAT: "pulsando saltantes illos ducit ad mortem"
SP: "tocando los conduce danzantes a la muerte"
http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/48886141/TEXT... (pp. 59, 60, near top).
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-05-08 19:21:39 GMT)
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Sorry; the site I mentioned is called academia.edu, not academic.com.
Cardano's Latin text (as you probably don't me to tell you) literally means:
"playing, he leads them dancing to death".
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-05-08 19:25:26 GMT)
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And my reference to the Valverde edition was wrong; the Latin is at the top of p. 60 (p. 108 of the file), and the Spanish is near the top of p. 61 (p. 109 of the file).
Note from asker:
| Many thanks!! |
| Thank you all! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
: I think "up" may mean "as they ascended the scaffold".
8 mins
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It could; I read it as "up to", in the sense of "as far as". Thanks!
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| agree |
Tony M
16 mins
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Thanks, Tony!
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| agree |
lorenab23
: Yes, "who take a piper with them to their executions" very important clue here ;-)
34 mins
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True! Many thanks, Lorena :-)
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
1 hr
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Thanks!
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| agree |
Yasutomo Kanazawa
8 hrs
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Thanks, Yasutomo-san :)
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: I'd have thought this was simple so don't understand how so many could have got it so wrong//:-))...
15 hrs
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Thanks a lot! This is how I understood it straight off. I think it's probably tricky for non-natives, and maybe it's also a matter of familiarity with literary language. I hunted out the original texts just to try to nail it for sceptics :)
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| agree |
B D Finch
: "Plays them" here = accompanies them with music and "up" is probably because executions, being public, were performed on a platform.// See my reference entry.
16 hrs
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Thanks! I agree with the first point and the second is a possibility, though I am still doubtful whether "up" implies verticality, since that idea is not present in the source text.
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| agree |
acetran
21 hrs
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Thanks, acetran :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
-2
3 mins
Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
United States
US Court Cert. 1980 Ph.D. 1981
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
83
make them seem more important then they really are
I cannot explain it in Italian. It is an idiom.
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Note added at 5 mins (2017-05-08 18:17:56 GMT)
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play up
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
play someone or something up
to make someone or something seem to be more important. The director tried to play Ann up, but she was not really a star. Try to play up the good qualities of our product.
See also: play, up
play something up
to emphasize something; to be a booster of something. The press played the scandal up so much that everyone became bored with it. They really played up the scandal.
See also: play, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Note added at 5 mins (2017-05-08 18:17:56 GMT)
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play up
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
play someone or something up
to make someone or something seem to be more important. The director tried to play Ann up, but she was not really a star. Try to play up the good qualities of our product.
See also: play, up
play something up
to emphasize something; to be a booster of something. The press played the scandal up so much that everyone became bored with it. They really played up the scandal.
See also: play, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tony M
: Not really applicable here. 'to play up' can also mean 'to misbehave', but that isn't the meaning here either.
58 mins
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| disagree |
B D Finch
: Not in this context.
17 hrs
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| disagree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: with Tony and BDF
1 day 14 hrs
|
-3
5 mins
Phoenix III
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
United States
True words...
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
, Spanish (Variant: Latin American)
Works in: Spanish to English, Spanish, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
2
portrays tem
...
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Note added at 6 mins (2017-05-08 18:19:38 GMT)
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Meant to give it a 4 level of confidence and 5 popped up. :0(
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Note added at 6 mins (2017-05-08 18:19:38 GMT)
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Meant to give it a 4 level of confidence and 5 popped up. :0(
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
philgoddard
: I don't think a piper can be said to "portray" anyone.
48 mins
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| disagree |
Tony M
: That wouldn't even be a normal meaning of 'to play up' in modern EN, and as Phil says, doesn't really make any sense in the context.
55 mins
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| disagree |
AllegroTrans
: doesn't make sense
4 hrs
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| disagree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: with Tony
16 hrs
|
-3
1 hr
Morad Seif
Türkiye
Türkiye
Türkiye
Quality matters most!
Native in: Persian (Farsi)
Works in: English, Persian (Farsi) to English, English to Persian (Farsi)
excruciates /displeases them by dancing when they are being executed
Plays somebody up: to cause difficulties or pain for someone.
My back’s been playing me up all day.
My back’s been playing me up all day.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Tony M
: Doesn't work or make sense in the context; we can safely assume that it is 'they' who are 'dancing to their death'; and this is supposed to be an example of their 'fortitude'
12 mins
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Thank you for your comment.
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| disagree |
AllegroTrans
: Your explanation refers to another meaning entirely; the vital clue is in the word "fortitude" in the asker's text plus the essential cultural component of the Scottish bagpipes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWP25QqVdiU
2 hrs
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Thank you for guiding me.
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| disagree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: with Tony
15 hrs
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Ok. Thanks
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Reference comments
18 hrs
Reference:
Pipers playing people up and down, in and out
www.scotsman.com/news/return-from-a-war-that-never-was-1-611416
A piper played them down the steps, then inside the arrivals hall, they embraced the loved ones they had not seen for six months.
humanistcelebrantgeorge.blogspot.com/2011/07/To round off their wedding, my friend, Robbie Innes, the Piper, played them down the aisle with the Canadian National anthem which he had transposed for the ...
www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/forum/the-ceremony/how...a-pipe... Jun 2008 - We are paying £60 for piper to play me in and out of ceremony and ... We're having a piper before I arrive and piping me in and us out and up to ...
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Note added at 18 hrs (2017-05-09 12:34:35 GMT)
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www.scotsman.com/news/return-from-a-war-that-never-was-1-61...
A piper played them down the steps, then inside the arrivals hall, they embraced the loved ones they had not seen for six months.
humanistcelebrantgeorge.blogspot.com
To round off their wedding, my friend, Robbie Innes, the Piper, played them down the aisle with the Canadian National anthem which he had transposed for the ...
www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/forum/the-ceremony/how...a-pipe...
We are paying £60 for piper to play me in and out of ceremony and ... We're having a piper before I arrive and piping me in and us out and up to ...
A piper played them down the steps, then inside the arrivals hall, they embraced the loved ones they had not seen for six months.
humanistcelebrantgeorge.blogspot.com/2011/07/To round off their wedding, my friend, Robbie Innes, the Piper, played them down the aisle with the Canadian National anthem which he had transposed for the ...
www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/forum/the-ceremony/how...a-pipe... Jun 2008 - We are paying £60 for piper to play me in and out of ceremony and ... We're having a piper before I arrive and piping me in and us out and up to ...
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Note added at 18 hrs (2017-05-09 12:34:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
www.scotsman.com/news/return-from-a-war-that-never-was-1-61...
A piper played them down the steps, then inside the arrivals hall, they embraced the loved ones they had not seen for six months.
humanistcelebrantgeorge.blogspot.com
To round off their wedding, my friend, Robbie Innes, the Piper, played them down the aisle with the Canadian National anthem which he had transposed for the ...
www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/forum/the-ceremony/how...a-pipe...
We are paying £60 for piper to play me in and out of ceremony and ... We're having a piper before I arrive and piping me in and us out and up to ...
Peer comments on this reference comment:
| agree |
Tony M
8 mins
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Thanks Tony
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| agree |
Charles Davis
: Good examples to show that "play them" is still current in this sense. But it doesn't prove your point about "up", since it could (and I believe does) go with "to": "up to". And as I say, Cardano just says "ad", so he didn't mean ascending.
14 mins
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Thanks Charles. Yes, it could simply mean "up to" = "as far as". If the piper was one of the condemned, he could hardly play them any further than that.
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
7 hrs
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Thanks AT
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
20 hrs
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Thanks Gallagy
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Discussion