A.Word.A.Day --Paul Pry

A.Word.A.Day

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Aug 25, 2015

This week’s theme
Eponyms

This week’s words
lorelei
Paul Pry
boycott
chauvinism
lovelace

The actor John Liston as Paul Pry

Art: George Clint (1770-1854)

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

PRONUNCIATION:

(paul pry)

MEANING:

noun An excessively inquisitive person.

ETYMOLOGY:

From a character in the comedic play Paul Pry by John Poole (1786-1872). Earliest documented use: 1826. Also see nosy parker.

USAGE:

“You must stop me if I begin to ask too much, or sound like an old Paul Pry.”
Molly Gloss; The Jump-Off Creek; Houghton Mifflin; 1989.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

We have met the enemy and he is us. -Walt Kelly, cartoonist (25 Aug 1913-1973)

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