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A.Word.A.Day--poindexter

Pronunciation RealAudio

This week's theme: eponyms.

poindexter (POIN-dek-stuhr) noun

An extremely intelligent but socially inept person.

[After Poindexter, a character in the animated series Felix the Cat.]

Poindexter is a synonym of nerd or geek. In the cartoon, Poindexter is the nephew of The Professor, the arch-enemy of Felix the Cat. The creator of the cartoon series is said to have named the character Poindexter after his lawyer.

-Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org)

"As more companies try to recruit business-literate CIOs, the title looks increasingly attractive to Young Turks who might earlier have dismissed it as a job for Poindexters."
Mindy Blodgett; Across the Great Divide; CIO (Framingham, Massachusetts); Dec 15, 1999.

X-Bonus

Whoever, in the pursuit of science, seeks after immediate practical utility, may generally rest assured that he will seek in vain. -H.L.F. von Helmholtz, physiologist and physicist (1821-1894)

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