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OP We all know what a pyrrhic victory is.
It isn't so well known that pyrrhic is also a noun, meaning both a dance performed while wearing armour, and the metrical foot of a warsong (such as one which accompanies a pyrrhic dance).
Now for my question: what's a pyrrhic loss?
what's a pyrrhic loss?
Well, if it is a loss that is offset by staggering gains, I'd like one, please!I guess the theme song for the old TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies" describes that
(this is from memory, and may not be exact):
"Let me tell you all a story 'bout a man named Jed;
Poor mountaineer, barely kept his fam'ly fed;
And then one day, he was shootin' at some food,
And up through the ground come a-bubblin' crude---
Oil, that is. Black gold. Texas tea."
So--he lost his food, but gained an oil field.
The Dupont chemist who discovered Teflon when an accident happened to an experiment.
The candymaker who overcooked a batch of fudge and created Tootsie Rolls experienced a pyrrhic loss.
And the chemist who discovered the first analine dye (magenta, I believe)
And : when that mold grew in a neglected experiment ... penicillin!
Then there's the guy who wondered why burdocks stuck to his dog's fur and came up with Velcro.
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