| 1.Jingoist |
One who boasts about his patriotism
and favors a warlike foreign policy. In 1877, British Prime
Minister Disraeli sent the fleet to Gallipoli to slow up
the Russians. A singer wrote a ditty called By Jingo
in honor of that action. |
| 2.Lothario |
rake; seducer; lover. Lothario
was an amorous character in an eighteenth-century play.
The Fair Penitent. |
| 3.Maverick |
one who acts independently.
Samuel Maverick was a Texas rancher who refused to brand
his cattle as others were doing. |
| 4.Nemesis |
Agent of retribution; just
punishment. In Greek mythology, the goddess Nemesis punished
pretentiousness with her swords and avenging wings. |
| 5.Philanderer |
one who makes love insincerely;
one who engages in passing love affairs. The word comes
from the Greek philandros (man loving)
but gained its current usage because many English playwrights
gave the name to their romantic leads. |
| 6.Philippic |
Bitter verbal attack. Philip
II of Macedon wanted to make Greece into a monarchy. He
was opposed by the great orator, Demosthenes, who denounced
Philip in devastating speeches that came to be known as
philippics. |
| 7.Procrustean |
designed to secure conformity;
drastic. An ancient Greek robber named Procrustes tied his
victims to a bed and then, to make them fit the bed, stretched
the short ones and hacked off the limbs of the taller ones.
|
| 8.Pyrrhic
victory |
a victory that is exceptionally
costly. Pyrrhus defeated the Romans in 279 B.C. but his
losses were terribly heavy. |
| 9.Quixotic |
romantically idealistic; impractical.
The Spanish novelist, Cervantes, brought this word into
our language when he wrote Don Quixote. His hero went forth
foolishly to tilt against windmills and help the downtrodden.
|
| 10.Protean |
changeable; taking on different
forms. In Greek mythology, Proteus was a sea god who could
change his appearance at will. |
| 11.Saturnine |
sluggish; gloomy; grave. The
planet Saturn is so far form the sun that it was thought
to be cold and dismal. |
| 12.Solecism |
substandard use of words; violation
of good manners. This word derives form the Greek inhabitants
of the colony of Soloi who used a slangy dialect. |
| 13.Sybarite |
one who is fond of luxury and
soft living. Sybaris was a fabulously wealthy Italian city,
symbolic of the good life. |
| 14.Spoonerism |
an unintentional exchange of
sounds. Reverend Spooner of New College, Oxford occasionally
twisted his words around when he got excited so that “conquering
kings: came out as “kinkering congs” |
| 15.Tawdry |
cheap; gaudy; showy. This word
can be terraced to St. Audrey. Scarves called St.
Audrey"s laces were sold in England where the local
people changed the pronunciation to tawdry. The quality
of the scarves, which at first was good, deteriorated, when
they were mass produced for the peasant trade. |
