Crossword answer
Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:21 pm
While doing an old NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle I came across this clue: Victorian quality.
The answer was "nicenellyism" (ie: Nice-Nellyism)
Needless to say it sent me running to ye olde Funk & Wagnalls dictionary where I found these definitions for Nice-nellyism:
1. Priggish.
2. Marked by the use of euphemism
Priggish means like a prig; smug. Prig means a formal and narrow-minded person who assumes superior virtue and wisdom.
Euphemism: Substitution of a mild or roundabout word or expression for another felt to be too blunt or painful.
Seems to me that these two definitions don't exactly go together.
The answer was "nicenellyism" (ie: Nice-Nellyism)
Needless to say it sent me running to ye olde Funk & Wagnalls dictionary where I found these definitions for Nice-nellyism:
1. Priggish.
2. Marked by the use of euphemism
Priggish means like a prig; smug. Prig means a formal and narrow-minded person who assumes superior virtue and wisdom.
Euphemism: Substitution of a mild or roundabout word or expression for another felt to be too blunt or painful.
Seems to me that these two definitions don't exactly go together.