Thursday, December 18, 2008

Popinjay

I just finished reading a book about Sherman's March to the Sea, and I loved the language that the soldiers used in their letters and narratives. One term, in particular, seemed like it could come in handy: popinjay.

General #1 said that there had never been more of a popinjay than General #2 as one, so, of course, I had to go look it up.

pop⋅in⋅jay
   –noun
1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect. a woodpecker, esp. the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic. the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic. a parrot.

Now that I know what one is, I'll have to make sure that I don't become one.

2 comments:

Knumb said...

In this context, you don't want to become a bloginjay.

Brad Wright said...

Good point! Though, perhaps by definition, blogs are popin-something.