Ride the whirlwind

Posted by Masakim on January 16, 2002

In Reply to: Ride the whirlwind posted by ESC on January 16, 2002

: : What is the meaning of the phrase "to ride the whirlwind", or "he is riding the whirlwind"?

: They that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind. (For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. Hos. 8:7, King James Version.)

One who rides the whirlwind controls and directs the destructive or revolutionary forces.

And, pleased th' Almighty's orders to perform, / Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm. (Joseph Addison, _The Campaign_, 1705)

The Girondian orators took up the somewhat hesitating challenge of Austria and Prussia. They knew so little of themselves as to suppose that they would be able to ride the whirlwind for which they whistled. (G.M. Trevelyan, _British History in the Nineteenth Century, 1922)

• The Rock.... Alex 01/17/02