17 October 2017
whiffenpoof
noun
1. an imaginary or indefinite animal; e.g. “the great-horned whiffenpoof;”
“Whiffenpoof” has been used as a joking fictitious name for a member of the upper crust; a 1922 Philadelphia newspaper columnist writes of an opera performance attended by “Mrs. T. Whiffenpoof Oscarbilt, Mr. and Mrs. Dudbadubb Dodo and [their] three dashing daughters who have just finished a term at Mrs. Pettiduck’s School for Incorrigibles at Woodfern-by-the-Sea.”
2. a device used for tracking exercises;
“Whiffenpoof” is also a more obscure name for a tracking device used in the 1940s and 50’s. It is a large, cylinder-shaped log that has several dozen nails driven all the way around the sides of it, sticking out approximately two inches. There are also railroad spikes driven into the ends of the log, which create an effective way to carry it.
For the exercises, a rope would be tied around the log, and it would be dragged throughout various woodlands, creating a trail of sorts. The trackers would then attempt to follow the markings, and eventually locate the Whiffenpoof. They would bring it back as proof that they had successfully tracked it
3. the Whiffenpoof Fish that forms the subject of a piece of comic dialogue in Victor Herbert’s 1908 operetta, Little Nemo;
One reviewer of the 1908 operetta gave a paragraph of praise to the comic hunting tales presented in a scene in which three hunters are trying to outdo each other with hunting stories about the “montimanjack,” the “peninsula,” and the “whiffenpoof.” He calls it “one of the funniest yarns ever spun” and compares it favorably to Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark.[6]
One source indicates that the dialogue in fact began as an ad lib by actor Joseph Cawthorn, covering for some kind of backstage problem during a performance.
The Word is also referred in one of the Little Nemo comic strips published in 1909 (April 11). After being held down by nine policemen during a hysteria crisis, Nemo’s father tells the doctor: “Just keep those whiffenpoofs away. Will you?”.
4. The Whiffenpoofs, the Yale University singing group, founded in 1909 and named after the imaginary beast in the operetta;
5. a stereotypic Yale alumnus or Ivy Leaguer
– Wikipedia
Example
I look like a whiffenpoof.
Origin
Dan Brown
Anagram
whine off fop
phew off info
Today’s quote
Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!
― Martin Luther
On this day
17 October 1814 – London Beer Flood causes the deaths of 8 people. The flood occurred when a vat containing 610,000 litres (135,000 gallons) of beer ruptured, causing other vats in the building to also rupture, resulting in a total of 1,470,000 litres (323,000 gallons) to flood nearby streets, destroying two homes and the wall of a pub. Those killed were living in the basement of houses which filled with the beer. The brewery was sued, however, the court ruled the event an ‘Act of God’.
17 October 1901 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt issues an Executive Order changing name of the ‘Executive Mansion’ to the ‘White House’.
17 October 1938 – birth of U.S. daredevil, Evel Knievel (Robert Craig Knievel). Knievel was best known for his failed attempt to jump over the Grand Canyon on a rocket-propelled motor-bike. He also successfully, and often unsuccessfully, attempted long distance motor-bike jumps, such as jumping 14 buses. Through his career, Knievel broke 35 bones. Died 30 November 2007.
17 October 1989 – Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
17 October 2010 – Mary McKillop is canonised by Pope Benedict XVI, becoming Australia’s first saint.
17 October 2011 – Richard Branson, of Virgin Group, opens the world’s first commercial space-port, which he has based in Mexico. Although there have been a number of sub-space test flights, to date there have been no commercial space flights.