This is going to be an eponym week, where we'll see words derived from people's names. In our quest for eponyms, we are going to visit, among other places, 18th century England, World War II era, and the American Wild West.
Phoebe Ann Moses, better known as Annie Oakley, showed sharpshooting skills at an early age and earned the moniker "Little Sure Shot." Later this shooting star and her husband appeared in the touring Wild West Show, delighting audiences the world over. Annie was known for amazing feats such as shooting a coin tossed in the air, and knocking the ashes off a cigarette held between her husband's lips. I think it would have been more spectacular if she had knocked bff the whole cigarette, not just the ashes, but I digress. In another stunt, she would shoot at a playing card thrown into the air, and before it touched the ground, riddle it with holes. I wonder if chad came out. Someone figured this matched the punched free ticket to an event, and soon all passes became known as Annie Oakleys.
Today's word of the day includes reference to the Academie Francaise and the effort to keep the French language "pure." I'm wondering what our French friends think of this, and whether the general population of France regards the effort as worthwhile, or futile, or both?
I've been meaning to ask about this, but always seem to forget; the week's theme provides a perfect segue:
Not long ago i ran across a term or phrase similar in meaning to "pyrrhic victory", but based upon the name of another ill-fated aggressor. i can't remember if it was simply a word formed in part by the name, or if it was used as a phrase which might have included "victory".
In 281 BC the people of Tarentum (now Taranto), a Greek colony in southern Italy then at war with the Romans, requested the aid of Pyrrhus. Early in 280 BC he sailed for Tarentum with a force of 25,000 men and 20 elephants and in the same year defeated the Romans at Heraclea, in the Roman province of Lucania, but at great cost to his army; hence the expression Pyrrhic victory.
"Pyrrhus," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
actually, i'm fairly familiar with Pyrrhus. it seems he was a dreamer from the beginning, which is hard not to admire, despite it being his fatal flaw.
what i'm looking for a similar expression, about a different person. i probably didn't make myself very clear in my initial query.
this has been on mind all day, and now i'm thinking the phrase i'm looking for could possibly have to do with that guy who hid from the Romans on Vesuvius (Spartacus, was it??). is there such thing as a Spartan Victory, that carries the same meaning?
daltonism Color blindness, especially the inability to distinguish between red and green....'national daltonism: the extreme difficulty nationalists had... in perceiving and appreciating the viewpoints or needs of members of other nationalities."
Or the habit of the political right to lump the left and the ecology movement together? Rod
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)hi ann!!
