A.Word.A.Day --crapehanger

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Nov 4, 2011

This week's theme
Fabric words used metaphorically

This week's words
chintzy
pinstriped
dirty linen
flannelmouth
crapehanger

Crepe fabric

Photo: Vishakha Shah

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

crapehanger or crepehanger

PRONUNCIATION:

(KRAYP-hang-guhr)

MEANING:

noun: A gloomy person; a pessimist.

ETYMOLOGY:

A crapehanger was one who hung up black bands of crape as a symbol of mourning. The word is from English crepe/crape, from French crepe, from Latin crispus (curled or wrinkled). Earliest documented use: 1921.

USAGE:

"'I don't mean to sound like a crapehanger, because I am an optimist by nature,' said Thomas Emmel."
William Mullen; Scientists Try for Butterfly Breakthrough; Chicago Tribune; Sep 3, 2002.

See more usage examples of crapehanger in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end. -Sid Caesar, actor and writer (b. 1922)

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