noun for socially destructive person

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#76277 - 07/17/02 05:56 PM Re: noun for socially destructive person
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10461 Loc: this too shall pass	such a person is a bane, a pest, a bête noire, a bugbear, a curse... and speaking of a curse, could be personified (so to speak) by Joe Bfstplk, the Al Capp cartoon character who walked around with a storm cloud over his head and was a total jinx but otherwise was pretty likable.
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#76278 - 07/17/02 06:35 PM Re: noun for socially destructive person
RhubarbCommando Pooh-Bah Registered: 08/23/00 Posts: 2204	The epithet that springs to my mind is, "pillock."
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#76279 - 07/17/02 06:52 PM Re: noun for socially destructive person
wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858	A sociallydestructive person is an illwind, because it's an ill wind that brings nobody any good.
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#76280 - 07/17/02 07:56 PM Re: noun for socially destructive person
Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/30/01 Posts: 6296 Loc: Piedmont Region of Virginia, U...	A sociallydestructive person is an illwind Ahem. Not to be confused with a wordwind, Dr. Bill.
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#76281 - 07/17/02 09:24 PM Re: noun for socially destructive person
modestgoddess old hand Registered: 02/18/02 Posts: 833 Loc: Eastern Ontario, Canada	I also think it is a mythical term... or maybe biblical. When I have time, I'll have a look through my Facts on File Dictionary of Classical, Biblical, and Literary Allusions and see what I can find....but don't have time at the moment, should be heading off for bed, dammitall, what am I doing here AGAIN?! Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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#76282 - 07/18/02 07:37 AM Re: noun for socially destructive person
dodyskin addict Registered: 04/24/02 Posts: 475 Loc: manchester uk	plonker or dipstick are good words for hapless mayhem magnets ( thinking rodney trotter here)
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#76283 - 07/18/02 08:23 AM Mebbe?
belligerentyouth old hand Registered: 12/20/00 Posts: 1055 Loc: Berlin	> I'll have a look through my Facts on File Dictionary of Classical, Biblical, and Literary Allusions Please do, MG, you might find what I'm trying to think of. I like tsuwm's options; a bête noire is a little fav. of mine (sic). I was lying round reading last night and it occured to me there there is probably a classical literary character that fits this description perfectly. I'm no expert on Greek lit. but I'm sure there's a Euripidean play that deals with this. Perhaps there is a character who fits this context? What about Deianeira? ...she certainly causes disaster unwittingly, when her desire to protect her marriage leads to Herakles' death, and her suicide. I don't know all those plays well enough to round down too well. Maybe someone else can. You'd think that in all the tragedies that Euripides or Aeschylus, or one of those blokes wrote, that they would have to have dealt with this topic.
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#76284 - 07/18/02 08:56 AM Re: noun for socially destructive person
FishonaBike veteran Registered: 10/11/00 Posts: 1346 Loc: Sussex, England	plonker or dipstick are good words for hapless mayhem magnets Only thing is that neither specifies someone who brings bad things to others, dody, though certainly the unintentional aspect is there. However, I think the term "mayhem magnet" is brilliant, and should be included in the world-famous AWADictionary
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#76285 - 07/18/02 10:15 AM Re: noun for socially destructive person
WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/13/01 Posts: 4189 Loc: Rio Grande, Cape May County, N...	How 'bout Frankenstein?..."I only wanted to be friends with the girl, but she just kept screaming."
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#76286 - 07/18/02 04:58 PM Re: noun for socially destructive person
consuelo Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/11/01 Posts: 2636 Loc: Caribbean	I can't for the life of me remember title or author of a story I read once about a lorry driver that couldn't escape the rain. That meant he could never stay long in one place because then there would be floods. Could it be Douglas Adams? This is now driving me nuts, TYVM! Admittedly, it's a short drive!
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