|
Gilded Youth
The original gilded people were France’s jeunesse d’orée, the “gilded youth”. In France, the Jacobins chucked out the aristocracy (the French Revolution) and then ruled. They were replaced by the Directory, which removed from office those who had carried out revolutionary justice during the Terror. In Paris, this persecution (the “white terror”) was carried out by the Gilded Youth, a gang from wealthy backgrounds who considered themselves the antithesis of the sans–culottes Jacobins.
Recently, people have been using “gilded” (covered with a layer of gold) to mean something like “plush” (well-upholstered, comfortable). It’s an oblique way of conveying that someone is posh:
Possessor of a life so gilded that spending time with him is dangerous for the soul.
The more gilded wing of the extreme right.
But the key detail that confirms his gilded existence is this: "I wore boxer shorts of combed Sea Island cotton at eight bucks a pair." Guardian
Lifted the lid on the gilded lives of the super-rich. Guardian
A sound system propped in the corner of the gilded dining room. Guardian
Like F. Scott Fitzgerald's gilded rich. Guardian
Sometimes a layer of gold is indicated:
The Gilded Age Edith Wharton’s novel implies a decline from a Golden Age.
Eerily redolent of so many other ill-judged flirtations with a past gilded in the memory by selective recall. Guardian Gilded memory is a cliché, but the original seems to be “gilded by memory” which makes much more sense, i.e. memory makes ugly truth superficially beautiful by applying a thin layer of gold all over it.
But avoid when you really do mean golden:
Happily, the incoming month offers gilded opportunities. Guardian
Or when you don’t really know what you mean:
Not even a gilded appearance by Les Dennis or a role for Kate O'Mara could save it. Guardian
| 
Oddities
LINK 
