Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Jul 14, 2005

This week's theme
Words from movie titles

This week's words
gaslight
mondo
stepford
zelig
mitty

Roll the dice
Get a random word from
A.Word.A.Day archives

---

Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML

---

zelig

Zelig (ZEL-ig) noun

A chameleon-like person who can change his or her persona to fit in any surrounding; one who appears to be present everywhere and unexpectedly associated with famous people or events.

[After Leonard Zelig, hero of the 1983 movie Zelig by Woody Allen. In the movie, Zelig can blend in with people around him: if he is with doctors he can transform into a doctor; he can take characteristics of anyone: Hassidic rabbis, obese, Scottish, and so on. The name Zelig is from German selig (blessed, happy).]

"'Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?' is written by Cyril Wecht and Charles Bosworth. Wecht is a forensic pathologist -- the Zelig of medical detectives, apparently, as he seems to be involved in every high-profile case from Elvis Presley to O.J."
Patti Thorn; JonBenet Books Speak Too Soon; Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado); Aug 23, 1998.

X-Bonus