Polyhymnia · Daily Eloquencegild the lily
To pile needless ornament onto something already lovely or complete — to overdo a good thing.
The expression for over-decorating is itself an over-decoration — Shakespeare wrote 'paint the lily,' and the language couldn't resist adding the gilt.
That accidental irony is the whole charm: a warning against excess that quietly commits the excess it warns about.
The soft, repeating L's even let the phrase sound as ornamental as the thing it scolds.
“The cake was already perfect — the gold leaf on top just gilds the lily.”
A friend proudly shows off an over-decorated dessert.
“Your closing argument is airtight; a fourth example would only gild the lily.”
Telling a colleague to cut a redundant point before a presentation.
It implies the thing was already excellent, so don't reach for it about something merely adequate. Aimed at a person's effort rather than a thing, it can land as a backhanded jab.
'Gild the lily' is itself a gilded misquote of Shakespeare — the phrase for excess can't help committing it.
▸More — where it lives, variations, references
Shakespeare's King John mocked anyone who'd 'paint the lily' — and the language promptly gilded the phrase itself.
“to gild refined gold, to paint the lily”
Two stressed monosyllables around a soft hinge: GILD the LIL-y. The repeated L's make the phrase itself sound a little ornamental.
- · paint the lily (the original Shakespearean form)
- · overegg the pudding (the British cousin)