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Could anybody tell me which word for a simpleton arose from the nickname of this man who contrived to fritter away some 250,000 pounds in a couple of years in the 1880's? I am guessing he came from Britain but not 100 percent sure.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Fearless: I found a site where you could buy a print of him:
Henry Ernest Schlesinger Benzon.
Spy. July 23, 1887. "The Jubilee Plunger." $50
Sounds as though he "plunged" £250,000 down the tube, a simpleton, indeed.
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Carpal Tunnel
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not knowing who this is, much less his(?) nickname, all I can do is hazard a few guesses:
jobbernowl? mome? buffoon?
addlepate? sumph? sawney?
nincompoop? ninny? ninnyhammer?
nupson? mooncalf? footler?
numskull? nimshy? clodpoll?
gowk? balatron? clodpate?
clumperton? coof? dizzard?
chowderhead? chucklehead? dolt?
gawkhammer? gomeril? goop?
grinagog? grobian? gudgeon?
gump? hoddypeak? lobcock?
looby? loord? mome?
mook? puzzlepate? quoob?
tawpie? tomfool? witling?
jackpudding? zob?
les fous font les festinas et les sages les mangent?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Welcome, Fearless--good to have you aBoard. I couldn't find anything on who this guy is, even, let alone his nickname, but just now the word schlepp came to mind.
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Carpal Tunnel
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the word schlepp came to mind.
er, Jackie, schlep is yiddish for tote; carry; lug around, as in, "Don't schlep all those packages yourself; let me help you." Perhaps you were thinking of schlub, which if I recall aright would fit. Edit, after LIU: no, it wouldn't fit.
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TEd
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addict
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Any help would be appreciated.
Can't help, I'm afraid except to say WELCOME  from one Aussie to another. We're getting that quota up here, guys! Now - if we had a Victorian and a Queenslander, we'd be fully represented. Oh, unless you think we need a Capital Territorian? Do we risk a Polly?
Glad you've jumped in, fearless!
Hev
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stranger
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OP
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Thanks for the welcome.
BTW I brought the Tim Tams.
If I do happen to find out I will be sure to post. Someone suggested bozo but from what I can find out its origin is unknown and came into being in the 1920s.
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Someone suggested bozo but from what I can find out its origin is unknown and came into being in the 1920s.
I've heard of a famous clown called Bozo from that era but I can't find a reference to him anywhere. Perhaps he took the name rather than coining it.
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Pooh-Bah
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I found one reference to Mr Benzon online, but it didn't say anything except to acknowledge his infamy for gambling losses.
FWIW, O Thou Improper, Thou Uncommon Noun -- a book containing thousands of eponyms -- does not list Mr Benzon.
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Carpal Tunnel
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perhaps it might prove of some interest, since we have little but nothing to go on, to know what it was that prompted this query. http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
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stranger
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It is one of the few remaining questions that I have to complete a trivia quiz. The reason I believe he is a Brit and thus the word to be British in origin is because the amount he frittered was in pounds not in dollars etc.
If I ever find it I will be sure to let you know.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Fearless, getting a little warmer here. Apparantly Mr. Benzon lost his money principally in horseracing. He was the "Man of the Day" in Vanity Fair Magazine, July 23, 1887 [on which a bricks-qand-mortar library may help]. See also the site wwh noted above, listing his nickname as The Jubilee Plunger.In some dictionaries is plunger is listed as having the meaning gambler. http://www.race-horses.com/news/2000/aug2000.htm; near bottom http://www.defreitasbooks.com/20vanity.html
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Shaking this dog's bone a bit more:
Plunger: One who plunges, or spends money recklessly in bets, etc. The Marquis of Hastings was the first person so called by the turf. One night he played three games of draughts for £1,000 a game, and lost all three. He then cut a pack of cards for £500 a cut; and lost £5,000 in an hour and a half. He paid both debts at once before he left the room. -- E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
tsuwm, faldage, can someone with access to OED see if the etymology of this use of plunger perhaps gives the name of this marquis as Benzon?
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The OED give the following, very helpful, etymology of the word plunger. [f. plunge v. + -er1.]I hope, Kieva, that this has cleared up any questions you might have had!
4. slang. One who bets, gambles, or speculates rashly or recklessly.
1876 World V. No. 115. 4 The prince of plungers, with hat jauntily cocked over one eye. 1877 Besant & Rice Son of Vulc. i. i, Plungers in baccarat, badminton, loo, and opera-dancers. 1892 Jessopp Stud. by Recluse vi. (1893) 192 He took to the turf,+was a regular plunger, and got deeply into debt.
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Carpal Tunnel
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it seems a bit of a reach going from a reckless gambler (plunger) to a "simpleton". Hermit, a 1,000-15 shot, nursing a serious injury, races from the back to the front to win the Derby. Epsom, 22 May 1867. Barely a week before the big race, Hermit pulled up with a broken blood vessel running in a trial at Newmarket. However, the rivalry between his owner, Henry Chaplin, and the Marquis of Hastings (who stood to lose £120,000 if Hermit won) ensured the colt's appearance in the classic. But with unseasonal snow flurries blowing across the Downs, Hermit's starting odds of 1,000-15 appeared a little miserly as he remained at the back of the field approaching Tattenham Corner. Suddenly he took off under the driving of jockey John Daley and at the winning post stretched out to beat the 10-1 chance Marksman by a neck. The Marquis of Hastings, it is said, went deathly pale. http://www.findonvillage.com/0123_the_obsession.htmthis seems like extremely bad luck more than anything else (but proves once again that you should never bet the farm on a sure thing). btw, I am unable to find a connection between Benzon and the Marquis. http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
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Plunger: 1. a person who plunges, or dives. 2 a large rubbeer suction cup with a long handle, used to free clogged drains.
I think the guy with the long name got his head shoved in the hopper.
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