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Cast a shadow of doubt12/14/2023 ![]() There is no possibility of ambiguity in the statement or sentiment expressed. The term is used to express absolute certainty in the mind of the speaker or author about something. What does ‘Without a Shadow of a Doubt’ mean? The expression takes on several forms in the modern idiom, depending on the inclusion, exclusion and choice of the articles, ‘a’ and ‘the’. ![]() As time moved on, ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ once again became the preferred term. In the 1900s, the word ‘beyond’ became less fashionable and was replaced by ‘without’. The 'without' form of the expression emerged a in the mid-19th century but has faded somewhat and the 'beyond' form is now far more widely used.This notion was first coined in 1772, in an article in the Derby Mercury, an English newspaper.īack then, the popular term was ‘beyond the shadow of a doubt’. proved an alibi in the clearest manner imaginable but what confirmed this beyond the shadow of a doubt was that he was then trying a robbery. ![]() That he was innocent of the crime his evidences would prove. The earliest use of the expession that I have found is in the report of a legal case in which a judge was accused o a crime, reported in the English newspaper The Derby Mercury, September 1772: 'Without/beyond a shadow of a doubt' was coined in the same way, to indicate something not merely 'without doubt' but without even the smallest, most insubstantial scrap of doubt. Least instead of a man, ye finde but the shadowe of a man. For example, the phrase 'a shadow of a man' has been used since the 16th century to refer to a man much diminished from his earlier stature, as in this line from the English Puritan writer Andrew Kingsmill's A Viewe Mans Estate, circa 1569: The expression 'beyond a shadow of a doubt' or, as it was more commonly expressed in the past, 'without a shadow of a doubt' originated in England in the 18th century.Ī thing being a shadow of its former self has long been used to indicate a thing reduced in power and substance. ![]() What's the origin of the phrase 'Beyond a shadow of a doubt'? If something is said to be 'beyond a shadow of a doubt' the speaker is certain that it is true, with no possibility of ambiguity. Beyond a shadow of a doubt What's the meaning of the phrase 'Beyond a shadow of a doubt'? ![]()
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