104.205.195.65: Added reference for spy's cloak and dagger from TF2

2025-05-20T05:07:20Z

Added reference for spy's cloak and dagger from TF2

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{{Short description|Idiom describing activities of espionage and subversion}}
{{Other uses|Cloak and dagger (disambiguation)}}
{{multiple issues|
{{more sources|date=January 2025}}
{{trivia|date=January 2025}}
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[[Image:Hutton's dagger and cloak, guard.jpg|right|thumb|[[Achille Marozzo]]'s 16th century [[manual of arms]] illustration of the Dagger and Cloak]]
"'''Cloak and dagger'''" was a fighting style common by the time of the [[Renaissance]] involving a knife hidden beneath a [[cloak]]. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, [[secrecy]], [[espionage]], or mystery.

==Overview==
The earliest written use of the phrase can be attributed to English poet [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] in "[[The Knight's Tale]]", published around 1400.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chaucer |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Chaucer |orig-date=1400 |title=1.2 The Knight's Tale |url=https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/knights-tale-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241231204146/https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/knights-tale-0 |archive-date=2024-12-31 |archive-format=Internet Archive |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website |publisher=[[Harvard]] |at=Line 1999 |language=en |quote=The smylere with the '''knyf under the cloke''';|trans-quote=The smiler with the '''knife under the cloak''';}}</ref>

Taken literally, the phrase could{{according to|date=January 2025}} refer to using the cloak and dagger in [[historical European martial arts]]. The purpose of the cloak was to obscure the presence or movement of the dagger, to provide minor protection from slashes, to restrict the movement of the opponent's weapon, and to provide a distraction. Fencing master [[Achille Marozzo]] taught and wrote about this method of combat in his book, ''Opera Nova''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marozzo |first=Achille |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63s8AAAAcAAJ |title=Opera nova ... de l'arte de l'Armi |date=1550 |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Opera_nova_de_l_arte_de_l_Armi/63s8AAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=pugnale 19 secondo] |language=it |trans-title=Chapter 58. Of the teaching of dagger and cape |chapter=Capitolo 50. Delo abatimento di Pugnale e Cappa.|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Fighting this way was not necessarily seen as a first choice of weapons, but may have become a necessity in situations of self-defense if one were not carrying a sword, with the cloak being a common garment of the times that could be pressed into use as a defensive aid. Both Marozzo and other masters such as [[Giacomo di Grassi|Di Grassi]] also taught the use of the cloak with the rapier.<ref>{{Cite web |last=di Grassi |first=Giacomo |date=1594 |title=Giacomo di Grassi his True arte of defence |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A02044.0001.001/?view=toc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415032210/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A02044.0001.001?view=toc |archive-date=2019-04-15 |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Early English Books Online |publisher=[[University of Michigan]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=di Grassi |first=Giacomo |title=The Rapier and Cloake. |url=https://www.cs.unc.edu/~hudson/digrassi/cloak.html |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=DiGrassi, His True Arte of Defence |publisher=[[University of North Carolina]]}}</ref>

The metaphorical meaning of the phrase dates from the early 19th century. It is a translation from the [[French language|French]] ''de cape et d'épée''<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2024 |orig-date=1891 |title=Cloak and dagger |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/cloak-and-dagger_n?tab=meaning_and_use |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |doi=10.1093/OED/1005727492}}</ref> and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''de capa y espada'' ("of cloak and sword"). These phrases referred to a genre of [[swashbuckler]] [[drama]] in which the main characters wore these items. In 1840, [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]] wrote, "In the afternoon read ''La Dama Duende'' of [[Pedro Calderón de la Barca|Calderón]] – a very good comedy of 'cloak and sword'." [[Charles Dickens]] subsequently used the phrase "cloak and dagger" in his work ''[[Barnaby Rudge]]'' a year later as a sarcastic reference to this style of drama.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickens |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Dickens|title=Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty |publisher=Chapman & Hall |year=1841 |isbn=0-14-043728-2 |location=London |pages=203 |quote=...his servant brought in a very small scrap of dirty paper, tightly sealed in two places, on the inside whereof was inscribed in pretty large text these words: ''A friend. Desiring of a conference. Immediate. Private. Burn it when you've read it.'' "Where in the name of the Gunpowder Plot did you pick up this?" said his master. "It was given him by a person then waiting at the door", the man replied. "With a '''cloak and dagger'''?" said Mr Chester.}}</ref>

The imagery of the two items became associated with the archetypal spy or [[assassination|assassin]]: the [[cloak]], worn to hide one's identity or remain hidden from view, and the [[dagger]], a concealable and silent weapon.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

==In contemporary culture==


The sword fight in [[Peter Martins]]' ballet of ''[[Romeo + Juliet (ballet)|Romeo + Juliet]]'' culminates in Romeo stabbing Tybalt repeatedly in the back with a dagger, having flung his cloak over the latter's head.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

[[Cloak and Dagger (comics)|Cloak and Dagger]] are also the names of two [[Marvel Comics]] characters debuting in 1982.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The Spy in ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' owns a wristwatch called "The Cloak and Dagger", alluding to his affinity towards knives and backstabbing.<ref>https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Cloak_and_Dagger</ref>

[[United States Navy SEALs#SEAL Teams|SEAL Team ONE]]'s unit logo features a seal wrapped in a cloak, holding a dagger, referencing the nature of their clandestine missions.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

In the [[Action role-playing game|action role-playing video game]] [[Deus Ex: Human Revolution]], "Cloak & Daggers" is a title of a side quest with similarly-named [[Achievement (video games)|achievement]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-08-26 |title=Cloak & Daggers - Deus Ex: Human Revolution Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/deus-ex-human-revolution/Cloak_&_Daggers |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref>{{better source|reason=Source does not indicate the significance of the phrase's use.|date=January 2025}}

In the [[Multiplayer online battle arena]] [[Dota 2]], "Cloak & Dagger" is the name of the hero Riki's ultimate ability, which turns him invisible and grants him additional damage attacking from behind.<ref>https://www.dota2.com/hero/riki</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cloak And Dagger}}
[[Category:English-language idioms]]
[[Category:Historical European martial arts]]

Cloak and dagger - Revision history

104.205.195.65: Added reference for spy's cloak and dagger from TF2