I was looking up the word of the day on dictionary.com because when I grow up one day I want to be like Tim Gunn and use lots of wonderful words in my everyday speech.
Anyhow, today's word is :
quixotic \kwik-SOT-ik\, adjective:1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals.
2. Capricious; impulsive; unpredictable.
What a wonderful word to have in one's vocabulary. The word actually refers to the eccentrically generous spirit of a well known literary character known as none other than Don Quixote. How cool is that?!?
Imagine having a presence so strong that the mere idea of your character requires a new word being created to describe it. In my opinion, the fact that this is a fictional character to which we are referring only makes it all the more impressive.
So let's play a game. Name a character or historical person that a word was fashioned after. I'd be interested to see how many we can come up with.
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5 comments:
Fun, I love stuff like this! Mine is: Malapropism. Originally from the French "mal a propos", meaning ill suited to the purpose. It's popular usage is attributed to Sheridan, who in his 1775 play "The Rivals" named a character Mrs. Malaprops, who continually misused words - for instance, by using a word that sounds similar to the correct one (alligator vs. allegory; or pineapple in lieu of pinnacle). Check out Wikipedia for more examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism
I got another one!
A spoonerism is a play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched. It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency.
While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue (sometimes spoonerised as tips of the slung), they are considered a form of pun when used purposely as a play on words.
Napoleonic complex. Achilles Heel. Is that what you mean, or am I being too literal?
No, you have the idea Ms. Place. It all goes to the same point... a character so strong that they inspire a word, so to speak.
So, for Spoonerisms: A White Horse Souse vs. a White House Source. I always love that one!
Of course, in Ms. Places line, there is Oedepile or Oedipus complex (not sure how to spell that). Orwellian.
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