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newbie
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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 Hawthornes [insert term for lack of celebrity] to ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Plebrity?
Mittyriety?
My guess is there is no word for that concept.
TEd
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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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Thank you for the suggestions.
How does "an O without a figure" mean unfamous?
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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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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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Carpal Tunnel
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It's a pun on my name. I leave it for you to figure out. Hint. Not a harrow.
TEd
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To turn over and spread out (grass, hay, or straw) to dry or for bedding Remington.
I see.
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Quote:
non-entity?
juan! you've just mantled Roget!!
- joe (how  is that?) cool
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Getting closer. Quote:
obscurity noun 1 the novel plots Carlottas rise from obscurity to stardom insignificance, inconspicuousness, unimportance, anonymity; limbo, twilight, oblivion. ANTONYM: fame.
New Oxford American Dictionary İ
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> juan! you've just mantled Roget!!
I never said a thing.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
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stranger
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Quote:
What's an (is there an) antonym for celebrity?
Everybody else?
I don't think there is one, because it is a term used for distinguishing an uncommon condition from an almost universal one. It's kind of like asking: "What is the opposite of a twin?" Non-twin? There's no polar opposite.
But I've often wondered why there's not an adjectival form of celebrity. How about:
"sell-ah-BRI-tik" ?
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celebritous = 1080 Google hits
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stranger
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Sure. But celebritic is better.
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deleted as inconsequential
Last edited by TEd Remington; 03/06/2006 9:42 AM.
TEd
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Quote:
But I've often wondered why there's not an adjectival form of celebrity.
There is: celebrated.
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... as in the jumping frog in the Twain story.
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Some seem to think it's "notorious"... does anyone have a first edition?
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stranger
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Quote:
But I've often wondered why there's not an adjectival form of celebrity. Quote:
There is: celebrated.
The difference between the adjectival form of a word and an adjective for a word was clear enough for the rest of the posters. I guess I won't pay any attention to one quibbler's facetiae.
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> The difference between the adjectival form of a word and an adjective for a word was clear enough for the rest of the posters. I guess I won't pay any attention to one quibbler's facetiae.
and the rest of the posters are thus supposed to conclude we're dealing with yet another tedious vituperative little sock-puppet [yawn]
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stranger
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Here's a lingual reasoning test. Which of the following two sentences is a better example of vituperativeness? Quote:
1. The difference between the adjectival form of a word and an adjective for a word was clear enough for the rest of the posters. I guess I won't pay any attention to one quibbler's facetiae.
Quote:
2. and the rest of the posters are thus supposed to conclude we're dealing with yet another tedious vituperative little sock-puppet [yawn]
Oh, by the way maverick, don't bother to answer this question. You've already failed. But here's your homework:
facetiae: (archaic) humorous or witty sayings.
quibble: (archaic) play on words.
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stranger
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Poysonally, I think "obscurity" is about as close as you're going to find.
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addict
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Seeing the title of the post, my first thought was infamy, but all the other posters seem to be going for un-famous rather than un-popular or "un-well-liked".
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I smell a troll around here somewhere. Do you smell a troll? I certainly definitely smell a troll.
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Quote:
I smell a troll around here somewhere. Do you smell a troll? I certainly definitely smell a troll.
We'll cross that bridge eventually, Fr Steve. I'm sure he's driving a Toyota, though: Troll is in a Cressida.
TEd
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stranger
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Take the lingual reasoning test, then decide.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Take the lingual reasoning test, then decide.
If you can't lick 'em, join 'em?
TEd
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