This week's theme: eponyms (words coined after people's names). Maxwellian (maks-WEL-i-an) adjective
Of or relating to shady business practices, financial tricks, misuse of public funds, etc. In the US we had Ken Lay and friends from Enron; across the pond in the UK, there was Ian Robert Maxwell (1923-1991). Maxwell was a Czechoslovakian-born British publisher who became notorious for misusing his employees' pension funds of some 400 million pounds. He also engaged in dubious transactions between his private companies and a public company to prop them up and boost the share prices. For his resilience to rebound after a castigating government report, he earned the nickname the Bouncing Czech. -Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org) "Admittedly, the case is complex -- 'potentially Maxwellian' is how one forensic accountant described it." Jim Armitage; Independent Insurance Collapsed Four Years Ago; Evening Standard (London, UK); Feb 4, 2005. Sponsors' messages: Monthly French, German, Italian and Spanish cultural audio magazines for intermediate-to-advanced learners. http://web.champs-elysees.com/wsmith1 Customize Thinking Putty as a Corporate Gift! Adult-sized handfuls, fun colors, and your own full color artwork: http://puttyworld.com/custom.html ............................................................................ You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) Share the magic of words. Send a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/maxwellian.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/maxwellian.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/maxwellian.html This message was sent to "[email protected]".
