Swedish Nightingale
- proper noun
:
Nightingale sueca
- Jenny Lind, known as the Swedish Nightingale, captivated audiences across Europe and America.
Examples
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The Swedish Nightingale performed to sold-out crowds during her U.S. tour managed by P. T. Barnum.
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Did you know that the Swedish Nightingale was Jenny Lind?
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Many biographies detail how the Swedish Nightingale became an international sensation in the 1800s.
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The Swedish Nightingale captivated audiences across America.
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Jenny Lind, known as the Swedish Nightingale, captivated audiences across Europe and America.
-
Many biographies detail how the Swedish Nightingale became an international sensation in the 1800s.
-
The Swedish Nightingale performed to sold-out crowds during her U.S. tour managed by P. T. Barnum.
Synonyms
A Swedish opera singer who became famous in the 1800s for her tours in Europe and America
Surface Forms
Morphology
Swedish + Nightingale
Combining 'Swedish' (from Sweden) with 'nightingale' (a bird famous for its song) allows a learner who knows both words to infer an epithet for a Swedish person noted for a lovely singing voice. However, the expression is a conventional nickname for a specific historical singer (Jenny Lind), and that referential/cultural link is not derivable from the constituents alone, so the meaning is only partially predictable.
Etymology
The nickname Swedish Nightingale was given to singer Jenny Lind because people compared her clear, sweet voice to a nightingale and she was Swedish. So the name came to mean 'a famous singer with a beautiful voice'.
