Galahad: Origin- The character Sir Galahad from the book King Arthur and the knights of the round table by Marcia Williams Definition- A pure or noble man
Origin: A character in "The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest" by Tirso de Molina who devotes his life to seducing women of all ages and stations in life.
Uriah Heep Origin- A character in Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" known for his humility, submissiveness, and humble claims, but is insincere and hypocritical.
Definition- Either a "yes man," or someone who shows respect without sincerity.
Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
The phrase "Uncle Tom" has also become an epithet for a person who is slavish and excessively subservient to perceived authority figures, particularly a black person who behaves in a subservient manner to white people; or any person perceived to be a participant in the oppression of their own group.
SIMON LEGREE: Origin - cruel slave trader in an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe; Definition - a cruel employer who demands excessive work from the employees
Quixotic:
ReplyDeleteOrigin-The character Don Quixote(from the book Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes).
Definition-Impractically idealistic or fanciful
Galahad:
ReplyDeleteOrigin- The character Sir Galahad from the book King Arthur and the knights of the round table by Marcia Williams
Definition- A pure or noble man
Tartuffe
ReplyDeleteOrigin: Tartuffe is the protagonist in a play by Molière
Definition: a religious hypocrite
Lothario
ReplyDeleteOrigin: The character Lothario in Nicholas Rowe's play The Fair Penitent
Meaning: A man whose chief interest is to seduce women
Don Juan
ReplyDeleteOrigin: A character in "The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest" by Tirso de Molina who devotes his life to seducing women of all ages and stations in life.
Meaning: Synonymous with "womanizer"
Pooh-bah:
ReplyDeleteOrigin: 1888 character in the opera "The Mikado"
Definition: person in high position or rank; or with high influence
Pollyanna:
ReplyDeleteOrigin: Based on the 1913 novel "Pollyanna" by Eleanor Porter who was a child heroine.
Definition: a person who is excessively optimistic.
Svengali:
ReplyDeleteOrigin:
after the evil hypnotist of the same name in the novel Trilby (1894) by George Du Maurier
Definition:
a person who completely dominates another, usually with selfish or sinister motives.
Walter Mitty: An ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs.
ReplyDeleteOrigin: Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Brobdingnagian: Originates from the imaginary land of giants from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."
ReplyDeleteMeaning: Marked by tremendous size
Babbitt
ReplyDeleteOrigin:from Babbitt, a novel by Sinclair Lewis; after George F. Babbitt, the main character
Definition: a self-satisfied person concerned chiefly with
business and middle-class ideals like material success
Scrooge
ReplyDeleteOrigin- Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"; character Ebenezer Scrooge
Definition- a character who is greedy; "penny pincher"
Uriah Heep
ReplyDeleteOrigin- A character in Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" known for his humility, submissiveness, and humble claims, but is insincere and hypocritical.
Definition- Either a "yes man," or someone who shows respect without sincerity.
Yahoo
ReplyDeleteOrigin-Swift's Gulliver's travel
definition - a stupid person
Jekyll and hyde origin "The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde. Meaning-someone with two personalities, one good one evil
ReplyDeleteUncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "Uncle Tom" has also become an epithet for a person who is slavish and excessively subservient to perceived authority figures, particularly a black person who behaves in a subservient manner to white people; or any person perceived to be a participant in the oppression of their own group.
SIMON LEGREE: Origin - cruel slave trader in an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe; Definition - a cruel employer who demands excessive work from the employees
ReplyDeleteFalstaffian
ReplyDeleteoriginated from Shakespeare's "Henry IV parts I and II"
definition - being fat, jolly, and debauched
Guy Friday
ReplyDeleteorigin: character in the novel Robinson Crusoe named Friday
meaning: a male or personal assistant that is usually loyal
Lilliputian
ReplyDeleteOriginated from Jonathan Swift's novel, Gulliver's Travels, in which there was an island called Lilliput, inhabited by Lilliputians.
Meaning: A tiny person or being.