This week's theme: eponyms -- words coined after someone. Darby and Joan (DAHR-bee and joan) noun
A devoted old couple leading a quiet, uneventful life. [After a couple named in a 18th century poem in The Gentleman's Magazine (London).] In 1735 Henry Woodfall, a printer's apprentice, wrote a ballad titled "The joys of love never forgot: a song" about a happily married elderly couple. His inspiration for those characters was his own boss John Darby and his wife Joan: "Old Darby, with Joan by his side, You've often regarded with wonder: He's dropsical, she is sore-eyed, Yet they're never happy asunder ..." As you can imagine, he wrote this poem after Darby's death. This poem in turn became an inspiration for follow-up poems and eventually Darby and Joan became a metaphor. In the UK, clubs for old people are still called Darby and Joan clubs. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "On the shores of holy Lake Manosarovar there is a nameless hotel run by a very elderly couple, a sort of Tibetan Darby and Joan." Karen Swenson; At Tibetan Hotels, Don't Expect the Light To Be Left On; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Dec 4, 2001. This newsletter is made possible in part by these sponsors: Discover new *super magnetic* Thinking Putty. It's the perfect stocking stuffer! Find out more: http://puttyworld.com?a=awad Always find the right word with the Visual Thesaurus. Wordsmith readers save 10%. Try it free! http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?ad=aw&code=m7r Talk turkey and stick your neck out! Try Orijinz, a hilarious new card game about word and phrase origins. A great holiday gift! http://entspire.com ............................................................................ To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior "righteous indignation" -- this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats. -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963) Looking for word/quotation archives: http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives.html Unsubscribe, change address, etc: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/darby_and_joan.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/darby_and_joan.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/darby_and_joan.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
