- Meaning
- This idiom describes participating in or promoting a corrupt, morally bankrupt, or exploitative endeavor, often for personal gain, as if preparing a lavish feast for a deceitful serpent, feeding its malice. It conveys complicity in unethical or harmful schemes, often used in political, corporate, or moral contexts to critique those who enable destructive forces. The phrase carries a tone of condemnation, irony, or moral outrage, reflecting cultural disdain for betrayal of principles and the human temptation to profit from corruption. It resonates in scenarios of greed or collusion, capturing the ugliness of aiding malevolence, and its reptilian imagery adds a layer of sinister allure, evoking a serpent’s cunning hunger. The idiom often exposes hypocrisy, making it a provocative metaphor for the cost of serving dark interests.
- Origin
- The phrase likely emerged in 17th-century Britain, inspired by biblical imagery of serpents as symbols of deceit, where serving a feast implied enabling evil, as noted in religious tracts. Its earliest recorded use appears in a 1665 *The London Post* sermon, condemning traitors ‘serving the serpent’s feast’ of greed. The idiom gained traction in the 18th century, reflecting Enlightenment critiques of corruption, as seen in Jonathan Swift’s *Gulliver’s Travels* (1726), which satirizes greed. Its use grew in 19th-century British and American literature, particularly in political and moral narratives, with Herman Melville’s *Moby-Dick* (1851) using serpent metaphors for betrayal. The phrase’s adoption was amplified in the 20th century through media, notably in *The New York Times* exposés of corporate scandals. Its spread to Commonwealth English came through British influence, and its vivid imagery, evoking a serpent’s banquet, and its applicability to corruption ensured its enduring use across English-speaking cultures, from boardroom betrayals to moral failings.
- Variants
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- Serving the Serpent’s Feast
- Serve the Serpent’s Feast
- Feeding the Serpent’s Feast
- At the Serpent’s Feast
- Examples
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- She’s serving the serpent’s feast, pushing that unethical deal for profit.
- Serve the serpent’s feast, and you’ll taint your legacy with greed.
- Feeding the serpent’s feast, he enabled the corrupt board’s schemes.
- At the serpent’s feast, they profited from the shady merger.
- Serving the serpent’s feast, she ignored the harm of her policies.
- Feed the serpent’s feast, and you’ll be complicit in their fraud.
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