Antonym for celebrity? - Wordsmith.org

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#156459 - 03/03/06 04:08 PM Antonym for celebrity?
Stag_Beetle newbie Registered: 02/12/06 Posts: 35 Loc: Compost heap	What's an (is there an) antonym for celebrity, both person and state, aside from the obvious possibilities like non-famous person and obscurity? For context, Edgar Allan Poe writes: Mr. Hawthorne, the author of Twice-Told Tales is scarcely recognized by the press or by the public, and when noticed at all, is noticed merely to be damned by faint praise. [M]y own opinion of him is that although [...] he is fairly to be charged with mannerism, treating all subjects in a similar tone of dreamy innuendo, yet [...] he evinces extraordinary genius, having no rival [...] in America [...] That this opinion [...] is a spoken and not a written one, is referable to the facts, first, that Mr. Hawthorne is a poor man, and, secondly, that he is not an ubiquitous quack. And the heading for this excerpt: Poe imputes Hawthorne’s [insert term for lack of celebrity] to ...
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#156460 - 03/03/06 04:13 PM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
TEd Remington Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/17/00 Posts: 3467 Loc: Marion NC	Plebrity? Mittyriety? My guess is there is no word for that concept. _________________________ TEd
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#156461 - 03/03/06 05:14 PM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10472 Loc: this too shall pass	it seems as though there just aren't as many nouns for labeling a nobody (although there are adjs. aplenty): A totally insignificant person: nonentity, obscurity, cipher, nebbish, nobody, nothing; mediocrity, insignificancy, man in the street. [Roget] "an O without a figure" - Shakespeare
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#156462 - 03/04/06 12:43 AM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
Stag_Beetle newbie Registered: 02/12/06 Posts: 35 Loc: Compost heap	Thank you for the suggestions. How does "an O without a figure" mean unfamous?
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#156463 - 03/04/06 02:17 AM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
Father Steve Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/06/00 Posts: 2788 Loc: Seattle, Washington, USA	When the Fool in Lear says "thou art an O without a figure," he means the numeral zero. This is echoed in the remainder of the line when he repeats the thought by saying "thou art nothing."
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#156464 - 03/04/06 03:47 AM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
Stag_Beetle newbie Registered: 02/12/06 Posts: 35 Loc: Compost heap	Quote: Plebrity? Mittyriety? My guess is there is no word for that concept. Hmm. I guess you're right. By the way, why is your avatar a tractor pulling a harrow? Just curious.
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#156465 - 03/04/06 05:29 AM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
TEd Remington Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/17/00 Posts: 3467 Loc: Marion NC	It's a pun on my name. I leave it for you to figure out. Hint. Not a harrow. _________________________ TEd
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#156466 - 03/04/06 06:19 AM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
Stag_Beetle newbie Registered: 02/12/06 Posts: 35 Loc: Compost heap	To turn over and spread out (grass, hay, or straw) to dry or for bedding Remington. I see.
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#156467 - 03/04/06 01:57 PM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/13/01 Posts: 4189 Loc: Rio Grande, Cape May County, N...	non-entity?
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#156468 - 03/04/06 03:09 PM Re: Antonym for celebrity?
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10472 Loc: this too shall pass	Quote: non-entity? juan! you've just mantled Roget!! - joe (how is that?) cool
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