Happy Easter one and all. It’s Easter Morning around the world. Be it a religious or secular holiday for you, I hope it is good for you.
Did the Easter bunny bring you a beautiful basket, painted egg, or a chocolate version of himself? On this morning and as a child, I’d find a charming basket filled with jelly beans, marshmallow chicks, chocolate eggs and, of course, a chocolate Easter bunny.
Lothario: noun | loh-THAIR-ee-oh
Definition: a man whose chief interest is seducing women
: lady-killer
Masculine proper name, Italian form of Old High German Hlothari, Hludher (whence German Luther, French Lothaire), literally “famous warrior,” from Old High German lut (see loud ) + heri “host, army” (see harry (v.)). As a characteristic name for a lady-killer, 1756, from the name of the principal male character of Nicholas Rowe’s “The Fair Penitent” (1703).
Lothario comes from The Fair Penitent (1703), a tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In the play, Lothario is a notorious seducer, extremely attractive but a haughty and unfeeling scoundrel beneath his charming exterior. He seduces Calista, an unfaithful wife and later the fair penitent of the title. After publishing the play, the character of Lothario became a stock figure in English literature. For example, Samuel Richardson modeled the character of Lovelace on Lothario in his 1748 novel Clarissa. As the character became well known, his name became progressively more generic, and lothario (often capitalized) has since been used to describe a foppish, unscrupulous rake.
“He was now quite an elderly Lothario, reduced to the most economical sins; the prominent form of his gaiety being this of lounging at Mr. Gruby’s door, embarrassing the servant-maids who came for grocery, and talking scandal with the rare passers-by.”
— George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life, 1858
“He probably even envisioned himself as a prized Lothario, never for a moment identifying with this observation by the great songwriter Kinky Friedman: ‘Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.'”
— Joe Fitzgerald, The Boston Herald, 16 Oct. 2017
Seeing today’s word at Merriam-Webster’s site gave me great joy. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. Finally the most prominent smile crossed my face, starting my day off with a bang.
I discovered this word in researching my Mona Bendarova books. In the first book, ‘The Taste of Honey,’ I introduced a club where the estate owners would hang out, drink and socialize. At the time, I called it the Club. However, when I wrote the sequel, ‘Broken Steele’ I decided to give it a name.
After thinking about it, and researching the idea, I decided upon the name Club Lothario and even its own website ClubLothario.com. The name fits in perfectly with the membership of the club and their favorite pastimes. One definition, ‘lady-killer,’ is perfect for the storylines. I hope you will read the stories and discover for yourself, the society Mona, Charles and the rest of them live in harmony together. Maybe I’ll see you at the club. If so, I’ll buy you a drink.
I love learning the different contexts of these words of the day. Do you? Please share your comments. I’m sure we would all like to read them.
Have a great day.
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster, Word of the Day.
Hoke (verb) HOHK
: to give a contrived, falsely impressive, or hokey quality to — usually used with up
“It’s okay that everybody looks great, though certain scenes seem hoked up. A black cat crossing the path of a motorcade about to explode feels more like Hollywood moviemaking than truth telling….” — D.J. Palladino, The Santa Barbara Independent, 10 Jan. 2013
“‘Concussion’ has the sober, patient earnestness of a lawyer preparing a major case—it’s a dramatization of true events and occasionally hoked up in the finest Hollywood tradition, but it wants to stir you into being convinced instead of the other way around.” — Ty Burr, The Boston Globe, 25 Dec. 2015
Hoke is a back-formation of hokum, which was probably created as a blend of hocus-pocus and bunkum. Hokum is a word for the theatrical devices used to evoke a desired audience response. The verb hoke appeared in the early 20th century and originally used (as it still can be today) when actors performed in an exaggerated or overly sentimental way. Today, it’s used adjectivally in the form hoked-up, as in “hoked-up dialogue.” We coined the related word hokey soon after hoke to describe things that are corny or phony.
Well, this is a first. I could not find an appropriate image that represented the definition of the word ‘hoke.’ Oh, sure, I found lots of images connected to the term, but nothing related to its definition.
Many people are named ‘Hoke’ including Playboy model Heather Marie Hoke and a host of other people. (BTW, if you share this post via Twitter, you’ll be treated to a nude photo of her.) I found various buildings named ‘hoke,’ product after product and even many state counties all around the U.S. But nothing specifically related to the meaning of the word.
So, I had to expand my search, using words related to the term. I came up with several stage performances are either contrived or outrageous. So, I included one of Madonna spanking Amy Schumer on stage. If you haven’t seen either of these women in person or attended one of their live performances, I urge you to do so. I’ve them both live and on stage, and I had a great time each time I’ve seen them.
I love learning the different contexts of these words of the day. Don’t you? Please share your comments. I’m sure we would all like to read them.
A sexy bonus picture is available by sharing this post on Twitter. My gift to you for sharing.
Brought to you by Merriam-Webster, Word of the Day.