A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Mon Oct 1 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aesculapian
X-Bonus: Whenever books are burned men also in the end are burned. -Heinrich Heine, poet, journalist, and essayist (1797-1856)
At one time the Roman and Greek gods were as real to people then as our
gods are to us now. They bowed before them, they built temples, they made
offerings.
Yet no one today in his sane mind thinks praying to Aesculapius is going
to heal anyone. Perhaps a time will come when future generations will
look at our gods just as we look at gods from Greek and Roman mythologies.
At any rate, this week we are celebrating gods whose stock has fallen.
If nothing else, let's thank them for enriching us with entertaining
stories and descriptive words that are now part of our language.
Aesculapian or Esculapian (es-kyuh-LAY-pee-ehn)
adjective: Relating to medicine.
noun: A doctor.
[After Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing in Greco-Roman
mythology. One of his daughters was named Hygieia. Earliest documented
use: 1604.]
Notes: The Rod of Aesculapius (⚕), a single snake around a staff
is used as a symbol related to medicinal arts, though sometimes it is
confused with the caduceus (☤), the staff of Hermes, with wings and
two snakes around it.
Aesculapius with his staff, Vatican Museums https://wordsmith.org/words/images/aesculapian_large.jpg
Photo: Fl�vio Cruvinel Brand�o http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaviocb/3312412967/
"Dr. Rollins, the eminent Aesculapian, is having a secret affair with
A.J. Morgan."
Francine Pascal; Sweet Valley Confidential; St. Martin's Press; 2011.
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Date: Tue Oct 2 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--protean
X-Bonus: The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. -Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)
This week's theme: Words from classical mythology
protean (PRO-tee-uhn, pro-TEE-uhn) adjective
1. Assuming many forms: variable.
2. Able to handle many different things, as roles in a play. Versatile.
[After Proteus, a sea god in Greek mythology, who could assume different
forms. He got his name from Greek protos (first) as he was one of the
earliest sea gods. Earliest documented use: 1594.]
Proteus: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/protean_large.gif
Woodcut: J�rg Breu
From the Book of Emblems by Andrea Alciato (1531)
"Bruce Chatwin: Such a protean character, a man of many parts. A man who
loved the austere but was also flamboyant in manner."
Thor Kah Hoong; Protean Character; The Star (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia);
Feb 27, 2007.
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Date: Wed Oct 3 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--terpsichorean
X-Bonus: I wish I could have known earlier that you have all the time you'll need right up to the day you die. -William Wiley, artist (b. 1937)
This week's theme: Words from classical mythology
terpsichorean (turp-si-kuh-REE-uhn, turp-si-KOR-ee-uhn, -KORE-)
adjective: Of or relating to dancing.
noun: A dancer.
[From Terpsichore, the Muse of dancing and choral song in Greek mythology.
The word Terpsichore is the feminine form of terpsichoros (delighting in
the dance), a combination of Greek terpein (to delight) and khoros (dance),
which is ultimately from the Indo-European root gher- (to grasp or to
enclose), also the source of chorus, carol, choir, garth, court, and garden.
Earliest documented use: 1825.]
Terpsichore: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/terpsichorean_large.jpg
Art: Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766)
"Each week, performers on the Fox terpsichorean competition 'So You
Think You Can Dance' have to learn new dance routines."
Rick Bentley; Choreographers Put Hearts Into Dance Too; The Columbus
Dispatch (Ohio); Sep 3, 2012.
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Date: Thu Oct 4 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bacchanal
X-Bonus: In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away. -T.S. Eliot, poet (1888-1965)
This week's theme: Words from classical mythology
bacchanal (BAK-uh-nal, -nahl) noun
1. A wild and drunken celebration.
2. A drunken reveler.
[After Bacchus, the god of wine in Roman mythology. His Greek equivalent
is Dionysus. Earliest documented use: 1536.]
Bacchus/Dionysus: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dionysian_large.jpg
Art: Caravaggio (1571-1610)
"The move backfired, encouraging instead a bacchanal of booze,
followed by a parade of puking."
Ben Butler; Corporate Delinquents Drink to Better Times; The Age
(Melbourne, Australia); Sep 3, 2012.
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Date: Fri Oct 5 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--morphean
X-Bonus: A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. -Henry Adams, historian and teacher (1838-1918)
This week's theme: Words from classical mythology
morphean (mor-FEE-uhn) adjective
1. Sleep-inducing.
2. Of or related to sleep or drowsiness.
[After Morpheus, the god of dreams in Greek mythology. He was the son
of Hypnos, the god of sleep. The name of the drug morphine is also
derived after Morpheus. Earliest documented use: 1641.]
Morpheus and Iris: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/morphean_large.jpg
Art: Pierre-Narcisse Gu�rin (1774-1833)
"The audience at the Institute of Directors convention began to drift
off under the Morphean influence of such tired words as 'stakeholder'
and 'strategic'."
Khalid Aziz; Speaking Out; Management Today (Teddington, UK); Sep 2003.
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Date: Mon Oct 8 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--inveigh
X-Bonus: Who knows what Columbus would have discovered if America hadn't got in the way. -Stanislaw J. Lec, poet and aphorist (1909-1966)
What makes a good usage example for a word? It's not one single
attribute. We try to find examples that, besides illustrating a word
clearly, are topical, short, funny, and informative, though it's
not always feasible to have it all. When it's an unusual word, we're
lucky to find more than a couple of recent examples of its use.
Readers sometimes ask if they can read the whole story mentioned in
the usage example. It's not always possible as the quoted article
may not be freely available on the web.
This week's five words have interesting usage examples and include
links to their complete texts. These examples are from several fields
-- technology, religion, politics, literature, zoology, and more --
but they are all worth reading and provide food for thought.
inveigh (in-VAY) verb intr.
To complain or protest with great hostility.
[From Latin invehi (to attack with words), from invehere (to carry in).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root wegh- (to go or to transport in
a vehicle) that also gave us deviate, way, weight, wagon, vogue, vehicle,
vector, envoy, and trivial. Earliest documented use: 1486.]
"The rabbi inveighed against anyone possessing the popular smartphone.
'A religious person who owns this impure device is an abomination and
a disgusting, vile villain,' he said."
Jeremy Sharon; Rabbi Strikes Against iPhone; The Jerusalem Post (Israel);
Sep 14, 2012.
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=285081
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Date: Tue Oct 9 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--apostle
X-Bonus: Between truth and the search for truth, I opt for the second. -Bernard Berenson, art historian (1865-1959)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
apostle (uh-POS-uhl) noun
A strong supporter or pioneer of a policy, cause, or belief.
[From Greek apostolos (messenger). Earliest documented use: 950.]
"Romney is the frontman and apostle of an economic revolution, in which
transactions are manufactured instead of products, wealth is generated
without accompanying prosperity, and Cayman Islands partnerships are
lovingly erected and nurtured while American communities fall apart."
Matt Taibbi; Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain
Capital; Rolling Stone (New York); Aug 29, 2012.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/greed-and-debt-the-true-story-of-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-20120829
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Date: Wed Oct 10 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mense
X-Bonus: We sometimes congratulate ourselves at the moment of waking from a troubled dream; it may be so the moment after death. -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (1804-1864)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
mense (mens)
noun: Propriety, decorum.
verb tr.: To adorn, grace.
[From Middle English menske (honor), from Old Norse mennska (humanity).
Earliest documented use: before 1525.]
"Auld Vandal! ye but show your little mense,
Just much about it wi' your scanty sense:
Will your poor, narrow foot-path of a street,
Where twa wheel-barrows tremble when they meet."
Robert Burns; The Brigs Of Ayr; 1787.
http://bartleby.com/6/133.html
NOTES: These lines are from a poem Burns wrote about a dialog between
two bridges when the construction of a new bridge began over the Ayr in
Scotland in 1786. The Auld Brig retorts to the above mocking by New
Brig that one shouldn't get carried away in vanity and pride:
"I'll be a brig when ye're a shapeless cairn!"
The poet's words proved prophetic when in the 1877 flood the New Brig
collapsed into a heap of stones while the Auld Brig still stands.
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Date: Thu Oct 11 00:01:07 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bunbury
X-Bonus: Few are the giants of the soul who actually feel that the human race is their family circle. -Freya Stark, explorer and writer (1893-1993)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
bunbury (BUN-buh-ree)
noun: An imaginary person whose name is used as an excuse to some
purpose, especially to visit a place.
verb intr.: To use the name of a fictitious person as an excuse.
[From Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest where the character
Algernon invents an imaginary person named Bunbury as an alibi to escape
from relatives. He explains to his friend, "I have invented an invaluable
permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down
into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If
it wasn't for Bunbury's extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn't
be able to dine with you at Willis's to-night." Earliest documented use: 1899.]
"There are birds who bunbury. One of them is the blackbird."
Jesko Partecke; The Birds Who Bunbury; Deutsche Welle (Germany);
May 22, 2007.
http://www.deutsche-welle.de/dw/article/0,1564,1365825,00.html
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Date: Fri Oct 12 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--feint
X-Bonus: What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
feint (faynt)
noun: A deceptive move, especially in fencing or boxing.
verb: To make a deceptive movement.
[From Old French feinte, past participle of feindre (to feign), from Latin
fingere (to shape). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dheigh- (to build
or form), which also gave us fiction, effigy, paradise, dough, dairy, and
lady (literally, a loaf kneader). Earliest documented use: around 1330.]
"Journalists could argue they use appellations as a sign of respect, but
I think it's a feint -- a touch of obsequiousness before sticking in
the shiv."
Emily Yoffe; You Are Not the Speaker; Slate (New York); Mar 20, 2012.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/03/newt_gingrich_speaker_of_the_house_politicians_who_cling_to_their_old_titles_are_pretentious_incorrect_and_un_american_.single.html
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Date: Mon Oct 15 00:11:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pollyanna
X-Bonus: A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot. It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain. -Mildred Witte Stouven
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The glass is half
empty, the glass is half full. The economy is down, prices are lower.
Often there are two ways to look at the world. We need both -- to
encourage and to caution; to keep us grounded when things are going
well and to prop us up when they aren't.
The words optimism and pessimism are derived from the superlative forms
of Latin bonus (good) and malus (bad). This week we'll see five words
that are coined after optimists and pessimists in fiction. To keep things
on the positive side, we have chosen three optimists for two pessimists.
Pollyanna (pol-ee-AN-uh)
noun: A naively cheerful and optimistic person.
[After Pollyanna Whittier, heroine of novels by Eleanor Porter (1868-1920).
Pollyanna is an indefatigable optimist and teaches everyone to play the
"glad game": find something to be glad about, no matter what tragedy befalls.
Earliest documented use: 1917.]
A sculpture of Pollyanna in Littleton, New Hampshire, the hometown of
Eleanor Porter: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pollyanna_large.jpg
[Photo: Gre http://www.flickr.com/photos/30496606@N05/5492332763/ ]
"So the doctrine of positive thinking does not require you to close
your eyes and ears to the world. It does not require you to become a
Pollyanna, calling everything wonderful, no matter how horrid it is."
A Thought About Negative Thinking; Deccan Chronicle (India); Sep 16, 2012.
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Date: Tue Oct 16 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jeremiah
X-Bonus: The skylines lit up at dead of night, the air-conditioning systems cooling empty hotels in the desert and artificial light in the middle of the day all have something both demented and admirable about them. The mindless luxury of a rich civilization, and yet of a civilization perhaps as scared to see the lights go out as was the hunter in his primitive night. -Jean Baudrillard, sociologist and philosopher (1929-2007)
This week's theme: Optimists and pessimists from fiction who became words
Jeremiah (jer-uh-MY-uh) noun
A person who complains continually, has a gloomy attitude,
or one who warns about a disastrous future.
[After Jeremiah, a Hebrew prophet during the seventh and sixth centuries
BCE who prophesied the fall of the kingdom of Judah and whose writings
are collected in the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations.
Earliest documented use: 1781.]
Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem https://wordsmith.org/words/images/jeremiah_large.jpg
Art: Rembrandt, 1630
"Economists are pretty reluctant to forecast a recession ... perhaps
because no one loves a Jeremiah.
Shorter Cycles?; The Economist (London, UK); Sep 12, 2011.
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Date: Wed Oct 17 00:01:03 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--micawber
X-Bonus: Nature never said to me: Do not be poor. Still less did she say: Be rich. Her cry to me was always: Be independent. -Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (1741-1794)
This week's theme: Optimists and pessimists from fiction who became words
Micawber (mih-KAW-buhr) noun
An eternal optimist.
[After Wilkins Micawber, an incurable optimist in the novel David
Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens. His schemes for making money
never materialize, but he's always hopeful that "something will
turn up". Earliest documented example of the word used allusively:
1852.]
Mr Micawber https://wordsmith.org/words/images/micawber_large.jpg
Illustration: Fred Barnard (1846-1896)
"As the shadow work-and-pensions secretary, David Willetts, said yesterday,
he takes the Mr Micawber approach to economics: something will turn up."
Larry Elliott; Mr Micawber May Find Result Misery; The Guardian (London,
UK); Nov 4, 2004.
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Date: Thu Oct 18 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cassandra
X-Bonus: The late F.W.H. Myers used to tell how he asked a man at a dinner table what he thought would happen to him when he died. The man tried to ignore the question, but on being pressed, replied: "Oh well, I suppose I shall inherit eternal bliss, but I wish you wouldn't talk about such unpleasant subjects." -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
This week's theme: Optimists and pessimists from fiction who became words
Cassandra (kuh-SAND-ruh) noun
One who prophesies disaster and whose warnings are unheeded.
[After Cassandra in Greek mythology who received the gift of prophecy
but was later cursed never to be believed. Earliest documented use: 1670.]
NOTES: Cassandra was the daughter of the Trojan king Priam and Hecuba.
Apollo, the god of light, who also controlled fine arts, music,
and eloquence, granted her the ability to see the future. But when she
didn't return his love, he condemned her never to be believed. Among
other things, Cassandra warned about the Trojan horse that the Greeks
left but her warning was ignored.
Cassandra in front of burning Troy https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cassandra_large.jpg
Art: Evelyn De Morgan (1898, London)
"I had become a Cassandra -- I could see bad things on the road ahead
but couldn't stop us from recklessly rolling over them."
Douglas Edwards; I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee
Number 59; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2011.
http://amazon.com/o/asin/0547416997/ws00-20
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Date: Fri Oct 19 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pangloss
X-Bonus: I think that to get under the surface and really appreciate the beauty of a country, one has to go there poor. -Grace Moore, actress and singer (1898-1947)
This week's theme: Optimists and pessimists from fiction who became words
Pangloss (PAN-glos)
noun: One who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances.
adjective: Blindly or unreasonably optimistic.
[After Dr. Pangloss, a philosopher and tutor in Voltaire's 1759 satire
Candide. Pangloss believes that, in spite of what happens -- shipwreck,
earthquake, hanging, flogging, and more -- "All is for the best in the
best of all possible worlds." The name is coined from Greek panglossia
(talkativeness). Earliest documented use: 1794.]
Pangloss: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pangloss_large.png
Illustration: Barry Deutsch http://www.amptoons.com/
"Steven Pinker is a Pangloss ... The world is a better place than it
used to be."
Bill McSweeney; Why We Should Look on the Bright Side; The Irish Times
(Dublin); Dec 3, 2011.
"Don Regan tried to pick up where Mike Deaver left off in the spin game
of gilding foul-ups with a Pangloss sheen, but he was a bit too candid."
Jim Fain; Lights, Action, Camera Again; Observer-Reporter (Pennsylvania);
Aug 14, 1987.
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Date: Mon Oct 22 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--predial
X-Bonus: Where the light is brightest, the shadows are deepest. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832)
A guinea pig is not a pig, nor is it from Guinea. It's a rodent from
South America. Sweetbread is neither sweet nor bread. It's the pancreas
or thymus of an animal used for food. The movie director Norman Jewison
is neither a Norman nor a Jew. He's a Canadian Christian. Nobody said
names for people or things have to make sense.
This week we'll feature five terms that do not mean what you might think
they mean.
predial or praedial (PREE-dee-uhl) adjective
Of or relating to land, farming, etc.
[From Latin praedium (estate), from praes (bondsman), from prae-
(before) + vas (surety). Earliest documented use: 1461.]
"Agrarian outbreaks, in many places, assumed the aspect of a predial war."
Johnson Rossiter; The Great Events by Famous Historians; 1905.
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Date: Tue Oct 23 00:01:12 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hibernian
X-Bonus: The worst kind of people are those who confuse kindness for weakness. -Werner Makowski, banker (b. 1929)
This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be
Hibernian (hy-BUR-nee-uhn)
adjective: Of or relating to Ireland.
noun: A native or inhabitant of Ireland.
[From Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland. The word hibernate is from
Latin hibernare (to spend the winter). Earliest documented use: 1632.]
"This lively bar is long on Hibernian charm, and patrons are smitten
with the pub's thick Irish stew."
Indianapolis Monthly; Sep 2008.
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Date: Wed Oct 24 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--histrionics
X-Bonus: Death destroys the body, as the scaffolding is destroyed after the building is up and finished. And he whose building is up rejoices at the destruction of the scaffolding and of the body. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910)
This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be
histrionics (his-tree-ON-iks) noun
1. Melodramatic or hysterical behavior calculated for effect.
2. Theatrical performances.
[From Latin histrio (actor). Earliest documented use: 1824.]
"The notion that men can face adversity with stoicism while women are
more likely to respond with histrionics is just one example of the
gender stereotypes that permeate our culture."
Kayt Sukel; Pink Brains, Blue Brains, Purple People; New Scientist
(London, UK); May 26, 2012.
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Date: Thu Oct 25 00:01:10 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--blousy
X-Bonus: You know what getting married is? It's agreeing to taking this person who right now is at the top of his form, full of hopes and ideas, feeling good, looking good, wildly interested in you because you're the same way, and sticking by him while he slowly disintegrates. And he does the same for you. You're his responsibility now and he's yours. If no one else will take care of him, you will. If everyone else rejects you, he won't. What do you think love is? Going to bed all the time? -Jane Smiley, novelist (b.1949)
This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be
blousy or blowsy or blowzy (BLOU-zee) adjective
1. Having a coarsely ruddy complexion.
2. Disheveled.
[From English dialect blowze (wench). Earliest documented use: around 1770.]
"She appears transformed from the dowdy, blousy woman with big hair."
Hillary in the Oval Office; Irish Independent (Dublin); Mar 25, 2006.
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Date: Fri Oct 26 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--redoubtable
X-Bonus: The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life -- the sick, the needy and the handicapped. -Hubert Horatio Humphrey, US Vice President (1911-1978)
This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be
redoubtable (ri-DOU-tuh-buhl) adjective
Arousing fear or awe; evoking respect or honor.
[From Old French redoutable, from redouter (to dread), from re- (again)
+ douter (to doubt, fear). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dwo-
(two) that also gave us dual, double, dubious, doubt, diploma, twin,
between, and didymous https://wordsmith.org/words/didymous.html .
Earliest documented use: 1421.]
"Even the redoubtable German economy now seems to be buckling."
Powering Down; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 7, 2012.
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Date: Mon Oct 29 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--obambulate
X-Bonus: I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
By the time campaigning ends next week, billions of dollars will have
been spent to snag it: the job of US President. All those bucks for
a position that lasts only four years with a salary of less than half a
million dollars a year. But weighing the post by its salary is like
saying that Olympic athletes sweat for years just to pocket a few hundred
dollars' worth of gold.
The post of President of the United States carries immense power to make
decisions that affect, for better or worse, people around the world. The
effects of the actions of a president last for years. Even eponyms (words
coined after someone's name) enter the language that reflect their legacy,
such as Reaganomics, teddy bear (after Theodore Roosevelt), etc.
This week we feature words that may appear to have been coined after this
year's candidates, but they have been in the language even before these
candidates were born.
Enjoy these words, and don't forget to vote!
obambulate (o-BAM-byuh-layt) verb intr.
To walk about.
[From Latin ob- (to) + ambulare (to walk). Earliest documented use: 1614.]
"We have often seen noble statesmen obambulating (as Dr. Johnson would say)
the silent engraving-room, obviously rehearsing their orations."
The Year's Art; J.S. Virtue & Co.; 1917.
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Date: Tue Oct 30 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bidentate
X-Bonus: The sick do not ask if the hand that smooths their pillow is pure, nor the dying care if the lips that touch their brow have known the kiss of sin. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)
This week's theme: Words that appear to have been coined after the 2012 US presidential candidates
bidentate (by-DEN-tayt) adjective
Having two teeth or toothlike parts.
[From Latin bi- (two) + dens (tooth). Earliest documented use: 1826.]
"Noah and his wife humorously feed all the beasts; Noah pours a pail
of milk into the hippo's gaping bidentate mouth."
Jon Solomon; The Ancient World in the Cinema; Yale University Press;
2001.
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Date: Wed Oct 31 00:01:06 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mitty
X-Bonus: You can't do anything with anybody's body to make it dirty to me. Six people, eight people, one person -- you can do only one thing to make it dirty: kill it. Hiroshima was dirty. -Lenny Bruce, comedian and social critic (1925-1966)
This week's theme: Words that appear to have been coined after the 2012 US presidential candidates
Mitty (MIT-ee) noun
An ordinary, timid person who indulges in daydreams involving
great adventures and triumphs.
[After the title character in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a short story
(1939) by James Thurber, later made into a movie (1947) of the same name.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0039808/ ]
NOTES: James Thurber's story appeared in the March 18, 1939 issue of the
New Yorker. In the story, Walter Mitty is a meek husband, rather uxorious,
who fantasizes of great exploits to escape the humdrum of daily life. One
minute he is dreaming of being a heroic pilot ("Throw on the power lights!
Rev her up to 8500!"), next minute he becomes a daring naval commander.
In his next thought he transforms into a master surgeon, and even a cool
killer.
"It was not a Mitty dream. It was no fantasy at all."
Richard Bach; A Gift of Wings; Dell; 1974.