This week's theme
Words coined after proper names

This week's words
peeping Tom
nice nelly
nosy parker
doubting Thomas
lazy Susan

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(nys NEL-ee)

MEANING:

noun: A person excessively concerned with propriety, modesty, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

A specialized use of the name Nelly, a nickname for Helen or Eleanor. Earliest documented use: 1922.

USAGE:

"Glen Rounds wrote: Instead of trying to make a nice nelly of me they encourage me to be my own nasty self, or even more so."
Russell Freedman & Barbara Elleman; Holiday House: The First Sixty-Five Years; Holiday House; 2000.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: