27 August 2017
popinjay
[pop-in-jey]
noun
1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect. a woodpecker, especially 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.
Origin of popinjay
Middle English, Middle French, Spanish, Arabic
1275-1325; Middle English papejay, popingay, papinjai(e) < Middle French papegai, papingay parrot < Spanish papagayo < Arabic bab(ba)ghā’
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for popinjay
Historical Examples
Yes, I was thinking what a popinjay I should look in a cocked hat.
Syd Belton
George Manville Fenn
That it has given a peacock’s strut to the popinjay Anthony Woodville.
The Last Of The Barons, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
“Then will they miss seeing a man, and not a popinjay,” I retorted.
To Have and To Hold
Mary Johnston
Am I to be shot at like a popinjay at a fair, by any reaver or outlaw that seeks a mark for his bow?
Sir Nigel
Arthur Conan Doyle
You should see the figure you cut with that popinjay in your arms.
The Shadow of Life
Anne Douglas Sedgwick
I’ll be shot if you shall have an invitation to Lancaster Park, you popinjay !
Lancaster’s Choice
Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
Then will they miss seeing a man, and not a popinjay, I retorted.
By order of the company
Mary Johnston
Taylor, the water poet, mentions the popinjay at Ewell, in 1636.
The History of Signboards
Jacob Larwood
Two only of those who followed in order succeeded in hitting the popinjay.
Old Mortality, Complete, Illustrated
Sir Walter Scott
But the popinjay could not sing, and had no invitation to stay.
Dorothy and other Italian Stories
Constance Fenimore Woolson
Anagram
pip yo Jan
Today’s quote
Your competition is not other people but the time you kill, the ill will you create, the knowledge you neglect to learn, the connections you fail to build, the health you sacrifice along the path, your inability to generate ideas, the people around you who don’t support and love your efforts, and whatever god you curse for your bad luck.
– James Altucher
On this day
27 August 1883 – the world’s biggest recorded explosion occurs on Krakatoa, an Indonesian island as a volcano erupts, killing between 36,000 and 120,000 people. The noise is heard in Perth, Western Australia, 3,500km away and Mauritius, 4,800km away where it was thought to be cannon fire. Tsunamis up to 30m high were recorded. It generated a cloud of ash 27km high. In the 12 months after the explosion, global temperatures fell by 1.2oC. The explosion darkened the sky for years afterward.
27 August 1908 – birth of Sir Donald Bradman (The Don), Australia’s (and arguably, the world’s) greatest cricketer. In his last Test, Bradman’s batting average was 101.39 runs per innings, but on the second ball he faced, he was bowled for a duck (zero), reducing his batting average to 99.94. It is the highest batting average in test cricket. Died 25 February 2001.
27 August 1975 – death of Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia. Although Selassie was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, Rastafarians believe that he is the Messiah returned. Born 23 July 1892.