Pomp and circumstance

This expression has passed into the language since the early 17th century meaning a showy or extravagant celebration, sometimes with a hint of unnecessary importance or substance. Pomp, a somewhat old-fashioned word, means a splendid display or celebration, while circumstance, in Shakespeare’s time, meant a fuss or an ‘ado’. All of which brings us to the origin, yet another coinage from the great bard himself, Othello Act III, Scene III, “Farewell … pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war.”