Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—P

Parolles

(3 syl.). A man of vain words, who dubs himself “captain,” pretends to knowledge which he has not, and to sentiments he never feels. (French, paroles, a creature of empty words.) (Shakespeare: All's Well that Ends Well.)

I know him a notorious liar,
Think him a great way fool, solely a coward;
Yet these fixed evils sit so fit on him
That they take place ...

Act i. 1.

He was a mere Parolles in a pedagogue's wig.
A pretender, a man of words, and a pedant. The allusion is to the bragging, faithless, slandering villain mentioned above.

Rust, sword; cool, blushes; and, Parolles, live
Safest in shame; being fooled, by fooling thrive;
There's place and means for every man alive.

Shakespeare: All's Well that Ends Well, iv. 3.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Parr
Parole
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