Joseph Dobrian, Occupation his majesty's column

A Nimrod in Search of Daffisms


Today (simply because I chose to write about it today) we pay tribute to Daffy Duck for the almost incredible change he single-handedly wrought upon the English language.

Our language is perhaps more fluid than any other. New words and expressions work their way into the language, and old ones disappear, at a fantastic rate. Other old words stick around, but their meanings slowly evolve into something utterly different from what they once were. Yet others-and these are by far the most maddening to a pedantic know-it-all such as myself-change their meanings, or evolve into something meaningless, due to the shocking ignorance of the general public.

Take the phrase "eke out." The standard definition of "eke out" is "supplement," as in, "I eked out my salary by winning at the racetrack," or "The Thanksgiving turkey was eked out by stuffing, candied yams, cranberry sauce and other goodies." This phrase came to be because "eke" is the old-fashioned word for "extra." ("Nickname" is a modern version of "eke-name," meaning "extra name.")

Still, simply because "eke" rhymes with "squeak," most people believe that to eke something out is to barely achieve it, as in "The horse eked out a narrow victory." My teeth hurt every time I hear someone use the phrase in this way, but short of draconian legislation, there's no way to make people stop it.

Another one that gives me douche-chills is "The proof is in the pudding." Now, just what is this phrase supposed to mean? And how do you find the proof in the pudding? By biting down on it unexpectedly? This grotesque piece of nonsense is actually a butchering of the very sensible maxim, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating"-in other words, "Performance is the only valid test."

Now, about Daffy Duck: Sometime in the 1950s (I don't know exactly when the cartoon was made), he managed to convince a great number of English-speakers that a certain word means something entirely different from what standard dictionaries say it means. Here's what happened:

The plot of this particular cartoon has an irascible caveman (with his good-natured but stupid pet dinosaur) ineptly trying to kill and eat the infamously malicious little black duck. The caveman comes a cropper time and again, meeting the dreadful injuries and humiliations that inevitably befall anyone who menaces a Warner Brothers anti-hero.

At one point, gloating over his adversary's failures, Daffy sneers, "Well, well, my little Nimrod..."

Here, the duck was using the term "Nimrod" strictly in accordance with the definition supplied by Webster's New World Dictionary (Second Collegiate Edition): "...the son of Cush, referred to as a mighty hunter: Gen. 10: 8-9...a hunter." In other words, he was saying (sarcastically), "Well, you're quite the mighty hunter, aren't you?"

Given the context, however, just about everyone who saw that cartoon took the word "Nimrod" to mean "loser," or "clownish nincompoop." Since the word was so pleasing to the ear, a thitherto obscure term quickly gained wide usage with an entirely new meaning, and it has been used thus ever since.

As one who hates to see English corrupted by ignorance, I naturally deplore this amazing shift. However, I can't help but marvel at it. If a foul-tempered (and fictitious) celluloid animal-not even a mammal!-can accomplish so much, just think how many other times something of this sort must have happened in the 1500-year history of our language!

I would beg all my readers to send me similar examples that they've encountered (with as thorough documentation as they can supply, of course). I don't pretend that I'll ever be able to stop anyone else from committing these vulgar errors, but it may be that I am currently misusing certain words and phrases as innocently as anyone who has ever used "Nimrod" as an insult.

In the meantime, I grudgingly raise my hat to the little black duck. In homage, I have just invented a new word, to describe any word or phrase that is commonly misused through ignorance: Daffism.

Such misuses are, of course, dethththth-PICABLE!

- Josephus Rex Imperator


copyright 2000 by Joseph Dobrian


home | occupation | recreation | avocation | aeration | proclamation: column index