This weeks word is Popinjay. Popinjay describes a conceited, pompous, pretentious and talkative person. Obviously a noun and its origin is French. In France it started out as "papegai" which means parrot. It began as a metaphor for a colorful bird, referring to people who dress in flamboyant manner. Today it refers to people who show off in any manner.
Popinjay or Popingo is also a European (Denmark, Scotland and Belgium) shooting sport most common in the form of archery, but also with rifles. The target for this shooting sport is a wooden bird.
Words are wonderful, don't you agree? It is always interesting to me how the same word can mean something different, depending on the culture and/or era.
I wonder if I will see a Popinjay today?
"A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl" Ernest Hemingway
Words ARE wonderful! I think crows and magpies must be in the Popinjay family! They are annoying! As talkative as I am sometimes, I would certainly not want to be referred to as a Popinjay and thankfully, never have been (at least not to my face!)
ReplyDeleteNo one would ever refer to you as a Popinjay! Are you kidding! But being referred to as a colorful bird can't be all bad!
ReplyDeleteYes, a colorful bird would be a nice compliment. In the bird world, the males are the colorful ones so they can attract the females...while the females blend into the foliage to protect their babies.
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