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Donald Trump wearing a turncoat is dressed to kill ... "
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Liliputins. What, the heck, is this?
http://stihi.ru/2025/03/08/5867

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Turncoat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Turncoat, also known as a Turncloak, is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party. In political and social history, this is distinct from being a traitor, as the switch mostly takes place under the following circumstances:

In groups, often driven by one or more leaders.
When the goal that formerly motivated and benefited the person becomes (or is perceived as having become) either no longer feasible or too costly even if success is achieved.
From a military perspective, opposing armies generally wear uniforms of contrasting colors to prevent incidents of friendly fire. Thus the term "turn-coat" indicates that an individual has changed sides and his uniform coat to one matching the color of his former enemy. For example, in the English Civil War during the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell's soldiers turned their coats inside out to match the colors of the Royal army (see Examples below).

Historical context
Even in a modern historical context "turncoat" is often synonymous with the term "renegade", a term of religious origins having its origins in the Latin word "renegare" (to deny). Historical currents of great magnitude have periodically caught masses of people, along with their leaders, in their wake. In such a dire situation, new perspectives on past actions are laid bare and the question of personal treason becomes muddled. One example would be the situation that led to the Act of Abjuration or Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, signed on July 26, 1581, in the Netherlands, an instance where changing sides was given a positive meaning.

The first written use of the term meaning was by J. Foxe in Actes & Monuments in 1570: "One who changes his principles or party; a renegade; an apostate." Cited 1571*[1]

"Turncoat" could also have a more literal origin. According to the Rotuli Chartarum 1199–1216 two barons changed fealty from William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke,[2] to King John. In other words, they turned their coats (of arms) from one lord to another, hence turncoat.

Process
A mass-shift in allegiance by a population may take place during military occupation, after a nation has been defeated in war or after a major social upheaval, such as a revolution. Following the initial traumatic times, many of the citizens of the area in question quickly embrace the cause of the victors to benefit from the new system. This shift of allegiance is often done without much knowledge about the new order that is replacing the former one. In the face of fear and insecurity, the prime motive for a turncoat to draw away from former allegiances may be mere survival.

Often the leaders are the first to change loyalties, for they have had access to privileged information and are more aware of the hopelessness of the situation for their former cause. This is especially apparent in dictatorships and authoritarian states when most of the population has been fed propaganda and triumphalism and has been kept in the dark about important turns of events.

Aftermath
As time goes by, along with the embracing of life under the new circumstances comes a need of burying and rewriting the past by concealing evidence. The fear of the past coming to upset the newly found stability is always present in the mind of the turncoat. The past is rewritten and whitewashed to cover former deeds. When successful, this activity results in the distortion and falsification of historical events.

Even after the death of a turncoat his family and friends may wish to keep uncomfortable secrets from the past out of the light. There is a fear of loss of prestige as well as a wish to honor the memory of a family member from the part of those who have experienced the positive side of the person.

In certain countries, individuals and organizations have actively investigated the past to bring turncoats to justice to face their responsibilities.[3]

Examples
There were many turncoats in history, including:

The English Civil War during the 17th century. The siege of Corfe Castle was won by Oliver Cromwell's soldiers when they turned their coats inside out to match the colors of the Royal army.[4]
During the revolution of the British American colonies when U.S. Continental Army Major General Benedict Arnold defected to the side of the British in May 1779.[5]
Canada during the War of 1812. Some Canadians felt republicanism was a better system of government than the constitutional British monarchy and fought on the side of the invading Americans.
Germany and Austria after World War II when many former enthusiastic members of the Nazi Party embraced the newly created nations of West Germany or East Germany and sought to erase or at least minimize their former role as Nazis. During the decades that followed, many former Nazis regained prestige and held high posts in the new republics. Kurt Waldheim, an Austrian Nazi, even held the highest post as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and as President of Austria from 1986 to 1992.[6]
France after the downfall of the Vichy Regime, when many collaborationists, whether home-grown fascists or Nazi sympathizers, played down their role in the former government and its institutions.
Russia and the former Communist Eastern European countries after the fall of the USSR, where many former communists suddenly became fervent supporters of capitalism. As a result, many former apparatchiks abandoned the Communist Party in favor of positions in the new government structures.[7]
In Spain after the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), and again during the Spanish transition to democracy (1975 onwards).[8]
In Syria, right after the fall of the Assad regime on 12/8/2024, many of his supporters (Shabiha) turned against him and began voicing support for the revolution. Just days before his escape, they were calling for bombs to be dropped on rebel-controlled areas.


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dressed to kill
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Related to dressed to kill: Brian De Palma

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dress to kill
To dress in extravagantly fancy or stylish clothes so as to thoroughly impress others.
Mary always dresses to kill, so she turns heads wherever she goes.
The chairman of the board will be there tonight, so be sure you dress to kill!
Come on, this is an important job interview, so you've got to dress to kill! Torn jeans and a tee shirt are not gonna cut it!
See also: dress, kill, to
dressed to kill
Very well dressed and fashionable, typically in an attempt to impress other people.
I have to be dressed to kill at this event tonight—a lot of important people will be there.
The chairman of the board will be there tonight, so everyone needs to be dressed to kill!
Torn jeans and a tee shirt are not gonna cut it at a job interview this important—you have to be dressed to kill.
See also: dress, kill, to
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
dressed to kill and dressed (up) fit to kill
Fig. dressed in fancy or stylish clothes. (See also dressed (up) fit to kill.) Wow, look at Sally! She's really dressed to kill. A person doesn't go on vacation dressed to kill. When Joe came to pick Mary up for the movie, he was dressed up fit to kill and carrying a dozen roses.
See also: dress, kill, to
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
dressed to kill
Also, dressed to the nines. Elaborately attired, as in For the opening of the restaurant she was dressed to kill, or At the opera everyone was dressed to the nines. The first of these hyperbolic expressions dates from the early 1800s and uses kill in the sense of "to a great or impressive degree." The phrase to the nines in the sense of "superlative" dates from the late 1700s and its original meaning has been lost, but the most likely theory is that it alludes to the fact that nine, the highest single-digit numeral, stands for "best." Also see gussied up.
See also: dress, kill, to
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
dressed to kill
If someone, especially a woman, is dressed to kill, they are wearing very smart or attractive clothes which are intended to attract attention and impress people. She watched his plane come into Mascot airport, dressed to kill, her hand shielding her eyes.
See also: dress, kill, to
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
dressed to kill wearing attractive and flamboyant clothes in order to make a striking impression.
See also: dress, kill, to
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
dressed to ;kill (informal) (especially of a woman) wearing your best clothes, especially clothes that attract attention: She went to the party dressed to kill.
See also: dress, kill, to
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
dressed to kill
mod. dressed in fancy or stylish clothes to impress someone. I’m never dressed to kill. I just try to be neat.
See also: dress, kill, to
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
dressed to kill/to the nines
Very fashionably attired. The first expression is a nineteenth-century Americanism. It appears in print in E. G. Paige’s Dow’s Patent Sermons, ca. 1849 (“A gentleman tiptoeing along Broadway, with a lady wiggle-waggling by his side, and both dressed to kill”). The precise analogy is no longer known. “Kill” may allude to the idea of making a conquest, or perhaps it is an extension of something “done to death”—that is, overdone. Dressed to the nines, also put as dressed up to the nines, is British in origin and literally means elaborately dressed to perfection. The “nines” were singled out to signify “superlative” in numerous other contexts from the late eighteenth century on, but no one is quite sure why. Some say it is because nine, as the highest single-digit number, symbolizes the best. Today, however, it is the numeral ten that signifies the best (as, for example, in Olympics judging). Other writers suggest that nines is a corruption of “to then eyne”—that is, to the eyes—but this interpretation doesn’t make much sense either. Describing an old department store holding its final sale before closing and lavishly decorated for Christmas, Mary Cantwell observed that “the corpse was dressed to the nines” (New York Times, Dec. 1989).
See also: dress, kill, nine, to
The Dictionary of Clich;s by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
See also:
a heart of gold
a ripple effect
appear to
a change of heart
a mystery to (one)
a plain Jane
(lone) voice in the wilderness
a voice in the wilderness
a turn of phrase
able to do