A person who meekly follows others' convictions

[Elisa70]

Hi,
I have two questions. The first one is: How you define a person who follows with docile submission other people's convictions?
The second one is: I found this sentence in a book: "If a man does not already belong to the horsy set, he may rather be told to get off his high horse". I suppose it has a idiomatic o figurative meaning, can someone explain me it?
Thank you

 

[Barb_D]

Re: to get off his high horse

Hi Elisa,
Please ask unrelated question in separate threads. Responses can create confusing tangles in the thread otherwise.

Could you mean this? http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milquetoast
Or a doormat. Or simply "a follower."

(Please start a new thread for the horse question. I will edit the title of this thread.)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi,
I have two questions. The first one is: How you define a person who follows with docile submission other people's convictions?

That is a definition. You want to know some words and expressions for what that person is. Here are some:

- a sheep
- a sycophant
- a yes man (in business)
- a toady
- a booster (in civic affairs)

The second one is: I found this sentence in a book: "If a man does not already belong to the horsy set, he may rather be told to get off his high horse." I suppose it has an idiomatic or figurative meaning. Can someone explain it to me?

It's figurative, not idiomatic. To be exact, it's what we call a witticism - a clever statement.

The horsy set is the group of rich people who own and ride expensive horses. Some compete in horse shows and others put their horses in races. Horse racing is often called the sport of kings.

To be on a high horse is to have strong moral opinions and be very vocal about them. Imagine a general sitting on a horse and giving the troops orders. When someone is ranting righteously, we might say, "Get off your high horse!"

So the quote means that people who are not powerful should not expect their opinions to be respected.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Charlie, Barb had already suggested that the OP start a new thread for the horse question The OP did that, but your response here is now problematic.

 

[Barb_D]

*PLEASE* follow the guidance of the moderators.

I specifically asked the OP to create a new thread for the second question.

When people respond to unrelated questions in the same thread, it frequently creates a mess.

Such posts in the future will be edited/deleted.