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WUZZY - the politically incorrect term "muzzy" in the 1728 folkpoem cited below* was changed to "wuzzy" in 2008 because it was feared that it might offend the world's wild-eyed radical Muslims. Instead the word "wuzzy" offended the wild-eyed radical feminists of the world regardless of their creed, race, color, or lack thereof.  * Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy was she?
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Ophelian
PRONUNCIATION:(o-FEE-lee-uhn)
MEANING:
adjective: Displaying madness, suicidal tendencies, and similar characteristics.
ETYMOLOGY:
After Ophelia, a character in Shakespeare's Hamlet, who is driven to insanity and kills herself. Earliest documented use: 1903.
USAGE:
"She had an Ophelian streak of potential craziness that he had, since day one, deemed wiser to steer clear of."
Jean-Christophe Valtat; Aurorarama; Melville House; 2010.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely. -Lorraine Hansberry, playwright and painter (1930-1965)
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OPHELLIAN (adj.) - the L added to emphasize the depths of Ophelia's madness and pain.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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OTHELIAN - well-meaning, parent-wise, but ultimately frustrated by the squabblings of his children.
(Oops. Should have been more leery of that one, and looked it up before I posted, not after.)
Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 05/20/14 05:13 PM. Reason: I need to reread those plays...
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benedict
PRONUNCIATION: (BEN-i-dikt)
MEANING:
noun: A newly married man, especially one who was previously thought to be a confirmed bachelor.
ETYMOLOGY:
From alteration of Benedick, character in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Earliest documented use: 1821.
USAGE:
"Columbus Moise, the old bachelor lawyer, who is soon to be a benedict, answered the toast."
Miguel Antonio Otero; My Life on the Frontier, 1882-1897; 1935.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: ****
A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury. -John Stuart Mill, philosopher and economist (1806-1873)
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BENEDIT (BIN-et-it) - heavy-handed editing as with an axe.
ETYMOLOGY: Shakespeare's drinking companion, Ben Jonson, edited several of Shakespeare's plays, mostly with spleen and spite.
After reading a yet-unnamed play Ben scrawled in big letters across the cover, THIS IS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. The bard set down his drink and said "Rightly so, Ben" Then smiled.
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BENTDICT - afflickted with chordee. See Jack Shaftoe, in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy, if you need a really long Summer read.
BESEDICT- kiss and tell
BENEDIRT - rich loamy soil
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BENEVICT - a movement to evict Bums, Elves, and Ne'er-do-wells who live their lives in public buildings where government people work...or, uh...don't work.
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Hamlet
PRONUNCIATION:(HAM-lit)
MEANING:
noun:
1. An apprehensive, indecisive person.
2. A small village.
ETYMOLOGY:
For 1: After Hamlet, the prince of Denmark in Shakespeare's play Hamlet. The opening of Hamlet's soliloquy "To be, or not to be" is among the best-known lines in literature. Earliest documented use: 1903.
For 2: From Old French hamelet, diminutive of hamel (village), which itself is a diminutive of ham (village). Ultimately from the Indo-European root tkei- (to settle or dwell), which also gave us home, haunt, hangar, and site. Earliest documented use: 1330.
NOTES:
The idiom "Hamlet without the Prince" is used to refer to an event or a performance taking place without its main character. USAGE:
"With some he is a Hamlet, a divided man who is always questioning himself."
John S. Dunne; Time And Myth; University of Notre Dame Press; 2012.
"The Baroness was right on one point: he was a Hamlet; his soliloquy might have run, 'To be married or not to be married / That is the question.'"
Herbert Leibowitz; "Something Urgent I Have to Say to You": The Life and Works of William Carlos Williams; Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 2011.
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SHAMLET -
1) a Potemkin Village
2) Hamlet without the Prince
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HARMLET - (diminutive) a peccadillo that doesn't hurt anyone very much. Compare "tortle"
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old hand
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BARDOLPHIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (bar-DOL-fee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Having a red complexion, especially a red nose.
ETYMOLOGY: After Bardolph, a character in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor, who was noted for his red nose. Earliest documented use: 1756. Another character from these plays who has become a word in English is Falstaff.
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BARDOLPHIN - a lawyer with a white hat (to distinguish itself from the sharks)
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