long live the king
- idiom
- Formal
:
¡viva el rey!
- After the coronation ceremony, supporters raised their voices and declared, 'long live the king!'
Examples
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"The king is dead, long live the king!" shouted the crowd as they celebrated the new monarch.
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The crowd shouted, 'long live the king!' as the new monarch took the throne.
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The phrase 'long live the king!' echoed throughout the palace halls during the celebration.
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Everyone shouted, long live the king!
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At the coronation, the crowd cried, long live the king!
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- Long live the king! The loyal subjects cheered in the grand hall.
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- At the coronation ceremony, everyone shouted long live the king to show their support.
Synonyms
A shout wishing someone a long life or success
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of the exclamation is directly inferable from the parts: 'long' (for a long time) + 'live' (to continue to exist) + 'king' (the sovereign) yields a wish that the king live long or an expression of support. The fixed, formulaic word order is slightly archaic but cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand the intended meaning.
Etymology
Long live the king comes from the moment a new king takes the throne, when crowds at his coronation shouted that he should live a long life to show their loyalty. So today people still say it as an exclamation 'expressing loyalty and support' for the reigning king.
