Words Derived from Proper Names
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Wordsmith.org A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg April 16, 2013
The Magic of Words
This week’s theme: Words coined after proper names
nice nelly
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:
Art is the elimination of the unnecessary. -Pablo Picasso, painter, and sculptor (1881-1973)
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