Today’s WOTD – 8 November 2012

Mitty

(MIT-ee)

noun:

1. a fictional character given to grand and elaborate fantasies; daydreamer
2. ( as modifier ): a Walter Mitty character ; a Mitty act

[from a short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939), by James Thurber ]

ETYMOLOGY:
After the title character in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a short story (1939) by James Thurber, later made into a movie (1947) of the same name.

NOTES:
James Thurber’s story appeared in the March 18, 1939 issue of the New Yorker. In the story, Walter Mitty is a meek husband, rather uxorious, who fantasizes of great exploits to escape the humdrum of daily life. One minute he is dreaming of being a heroic pilot (“Throw on the power lights! Rev her up to 8500!”), next minute he becomes a daring naval commander. In his next thought he transforms into a master surgeon, and even a cool killer.

USAGE:
“It was not a Mitty dream. It was no fantasy at all.”
Richard Bach; A Gift of Wings; Dell; 1974.

Today’s aphorism

‘Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential’.

– Barack Obama

On this day

8 November 1960 – 43 year old, John F. Kennedy wins the presidential election and becomes the youngest President of the United States of America.

8 November 1973 – In Brisbane, Australia, a home-made bomb is placed on a teacher’s desk. It detonates, killing one student, injuring 8 others, while the teacher loses both hands.