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| Babbitt; George F. Babbitt was an American middle-class businessman who was vastly pleased with himself. He wasn't open-minded or tolerant, and you can meet him in Sinclair Lewis's satiric novel "Babbitt" (1922). Anyone like George is a Babbitt. |
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Definition
| not open-minded nor tolerant |
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| Brobdingnagian; In Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" (1726), Gulliver met the Brobdingnagians, giants tall as steeples. This word is an interesting (and impressive) synonym for "gigantic". |
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| bumble; Mr. Bumble was the officious, puffed-up, and pompous orphanage official (a beadle) in Dickens's "Oliver Twist". A modern-day bumble is someone to be avoided, just like the original |
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| Cinderella; Like her fairy-tale ancestor, a Cinderella is any girl who goes from "rags to riches". |
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| any girl who goes from "rags to riches" |
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| Don Juan; Don Juan is a lover, but very unsavory. The original character killed men and seduced women, and word of his behavior got around. Franciscan monks were finally forced to kill him to end his career. Nevertheless, in modern use, his name gives us the idea of a fellow who might be interesting to know. |
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Definition
| fellow who might be interesting to know |
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| Falstaffian; Sir John Falstaff is Shakespeare's bragging, bawdy, good-humored fat man introduced in the historical plays for comic relief. Something Falstaffian resembles the original character or his men. |
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| a fat man who is bragging, bawdy, and good-humored |
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| Frankenstein; Mary Shelley was the creator of the book" Frankenstein", which she wrote as a vacation entertainment in 1817. Her story still haunts us--possible that a living being might be created in a lab from dead human parts. Frankenstein was the name of the scientist who created the monster, but the word now refers to a monster that destroys its creator. |
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| a monster that destroys his creator |
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| Friday; Like Robinsons Crusoe's original, a helper who is dependable, cheerful, and hardworking is called a "man Friday". A "girl Friday" is the same thing, only prettier. |
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Definition
| a helper who is dependable, cheerful, and hardworking |
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| Galahad; Most noble and pure of all knights was Launcelot's son, Sir Galahad. A male both good-looking and gallant is a Sir Galahad. (Also, remember the noble and pure part.) |
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| a male who is good-looking, gallant, noble, and pure |
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| Jekyll and Hyde; Someone described as a Jekyll and Hyde is a person who alternates between good and evil in startling contrast. Robert Louis Stevenson's story "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" ends with the kindly Dr. Jekyll trapped in the murderous Hyde personality. (There may be a lesson here for all of us.) |
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| a person who alternates between good and evil in startling contrast |
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| Lilliputian; Opposite of the immense Brobdingnagians, the six-inch Lilliputians were also people in Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". Anything "Lilliputian" is miniature or tiny. |
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| anything miniature or tiny |
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| Little Lord Fauntleroy; Any little boy so good he isn't real is a Little Lord Fauntleroy. (I have never met one). The original, in Frances Hodgson Burnett's book, is a poor New York child who inherits an earldom, zaps over to England to claim it, and endears himself to the entire Continent by his impeccable behavior. Sometimes this term means "sissy". |
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| any little boy so good he isn't real; sometimes meaning "sissy" |
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| lothario; One way to have your name become history, apparently, is to be a well-known lover. Lothario, a character in the play "The Fair Penitent", was either a "cheerful seducer" or a "heartless libertine" depending on which dictionary you read. It is probably enough to say that a "lothario" gets around. |
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Definition
| "cheerful seducer" or "heartless libertine"; someone who gets around |
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| malapropism; Mrs. Malaprop, from Sheridan's play "The Rivals" (1775), gained immortality by her verbal mistakes. Among other gems, she said, "'Illiterate' him, I say, quite from your memory," and, "She's as headstrong as an 'allegory' on the banks of the Nile." A malapropism is a hilarious misuse of words. |
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Definition
| a hilarious misuse of words |
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| Milquetoast; Caspar Milquetoast was the detective hero of Webster's cartoon series "The Timid Soul. Because milk toast is bland and soggy, a milquetoast is anyone who can be pushed around--a wimp. |
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Definition
| anyone who can be pushed around--a wimp |
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| Pickwickian; Another Dickens character is Mr. Pickwick of "Pickwick Papers". In his club, comments were "not in accordance with their usual meaning, conveniently understood so as to avoid offense." Pickwickian words are thus ones used in an esoteric, special sense. |
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Definition
| words used in an esoteric, special sense |
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| Pollyanna; Pollyanna is the female version of Little Lord Fauntleroy. She was a too-good-to-be-true kid from Eleanor Porter's 1913 novel, "Pollyanna". Pollyanna practiced her piano for hours, always saw the good side of things, and I hated her. No matter how awful it may appear, a Pollyanna finds something good about everything. Dr. Pangloss behaves the same way in Voltaire's famous satire, "Candide". He says thins like "Everything's for the best in this best of all possible worlds." (Of course, he has a point, but blind acceptance is sometimes hard to take.) |
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| someone who finds something good about everything |
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| pooh-bah; In Gilbert and Sullivan's light opera "The Mikado", Pooh-Bah was the Lord-High-Everything-Else. Any politician who holds several offices or has many jobs is a pooh-bah. (Pooh Bear, created by A. A., Milne, sounds a lot like pooh-bah, and Milne was a Gilbert and Sullivan fan. Do you supposed???) |
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Definition
| politician who holds several offices or has many jobs |
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| quixotic; Don Quixote was the lovable, idealistic, impractical old man who imagined himself a knight in Cervantes's novel "Don Quixote". "The Man of La Mancha" is the musical based on this book, and both portray idealism contrasted with reality. Quixotic schemes or ideas are noble, but unrealistic--touched with glory, perhaps, but doomed. Sancho Panza was the faithful companion of Don Quixote, and Dulcinea was the queen of his heart. Dulcinea now means sweetheart. |
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| noble, but unrealistic--touched with glory, but doomed |
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| robot; Czech playwright Karel Capek wrote a brilliant play titled "R.U.R." (1923), the initials meaning Rossum's Universal Robots. As in "Frankenstein", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", and other works, the thing that was created rebels. The idea that our own inventions will destroy us is a compelling theme. A robot is anyone who exists and works without thought, who simply does what he or she is told. |
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Definition
| anyone who exists and works without thought, who simply does what he or she is told |
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| rodomontade; One brave but boastful character in both "Orlando Innamorato" and "Orlando Furioso" is a Saracen king named Rodomonte. His courage forgotten, rodomontade now means "vain boasting; empty bluster." Roll this word off your tongue; it's more impressive than the word bragging. |
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Definition
| vain boasting; empty bluster |
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| scrooge; We all know Scrooge, the penny-pinching miser with a heart like the Grinch's--"two sizes too small." From Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" (1843), the name now refers to any grasping, covetous person seemingly without kindness, a curmudgeon. |
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| any grasping, covetous person seemingly without kindness; a curmudgeon |
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| Simon Legree; Roughly ten years before the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who had never been south of Ohio, wrote an impassioned novel about slavery titled "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Her slaver was Simon Legree, a brutal taskmaster and villain. Anyone who works others mercilessly is a Simon Legree. |
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Definition
| anyone who works others mercilessly |
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| Svengali; The musical hypnotic genius in Du Maurier's "Trilby" (1894) was Svengali. Anyone who controls others by seemingly mysterious means is a Svengali. |
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| anyone who controls others by seemingly mysterious means |
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| Tartuffe; Tartuffe was a complete moral hypocrite in Moliere's play by that name. A Tartuffe is anyone who pretends great devotion to religion and its principles but lives a secretly immoral life. |
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Definition
| one who pretends great devotion to religion and its principles but lives a secretly immoral life |
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| Uncle Tom; In "Uncle Tom's Cabin", the antislavery novel of the 1850s, Uncle Tom was the saintly old black man who understood (or tried to understand) both sides of the master-slave problem. (A sort of Pollyanna.) Today, a black called an Uncle Tom is seen by other blacks as being too quick to cooperate with white people. |
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Definition
| today, a black seen by other blacks as being too quick to cooperate with white people |
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| Uriah Heep; From Dickens's "David Copperfield" comes Uriah Heep, a term to describe someone hypocritical and holier-than-thou, who needs careful watching when making a deal. |
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Definition
| someone hypocritical and holier-than-thou, who needs careful watching when making a deal |
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| Walter Mitty; Humorist James Thurber's lovable character from "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is probably part of all of us. He's the spirit behind all good fantasy--the part of all of us that dreams and fantasizes about what we'd like to be or do or have. |
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Definition
| the spirit behind all good fantasy--the part of all of us that dreams and fantasizes about what we'd like to be or do or have |
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| yahoo; The Yahoos were another race in "Gulliver's Travels", and a particularly unlovely lot. They were subjects of the Houyhnhnms, horses who could think and reason. That tells you have grungy they were. A yahoo is a crud ball, a stupid person. |
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Definition
| a crud ball, a stupid person |
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