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flibbertigibbet FLI-bur-tee-jib-uht noun a silly person; a person who changes their mind at the drop of a hat 1907O. HenryHeart of the WestHe shut himself in his room like some venomous kobold or flibbertigibbet, whining, complaining, cursing, accusing.1969Kurt VonnegutSlaughterhouse FiveAll this responsibility at such an early age made her a bitchy flibbertigibbet.1986Winston GroomForrest Gump'This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet,' Tom o'Bedlam say.Labels: Kurt Vonnegut, O. Henry, Winston Groom
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roman-fleuve RO-mawn FLAERV noun a tremendously long novel or even longer series of books that tell the story of the life of a single person or the lives of members of a family, community, or other affiliated group 1997Kurt VonnegutTimequakeIf there had been a significant body of potential book-buyers who might care about rich German-Americans in Indianapolis, it would have been a piece of cake for me to bang out a roman-fleuve demonstrating that my grandfather in fact murdered my mother, albeit very slowly, by double-crossing her so long ago.1998Patrick TilleyMissionI was not God, or the Presence, or whatever you choose to call the author of this roman-fleuve.1999Anne RiceVittorio the VampirePerhaps when my book is finished and gone from my hands, I may take steps to become somehow a character in that grand roman-fleuve begun by other vampires in San Francisco or New Orleans.Labels: Anne Rice, Kurt Vonnegut, Patrick Tilley
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shaggydog story sha-gee DAWG stor-ee noun a long story that’s humorous to the speaker but strikes the listener as boring and stupid 1968Larry NivenA Gift From Earth'The luck of Matt Keller.' A joke, a shaggy-dog story. If he hadn't used the power to 'rescue' Polly, she might be alive now. If he hadn't come running to Jay Hood for explanations, he'd be back tending his mining worms. No wonder this form of 'luck' had never appeared before. Perhaps it never would again.1981Spider RobinsonTime Travellers Strictly CashIt was Tall Tales Night at Callahan's, the night on which the teller of the most outrageous shaggy-dog story gets his night's tab refunded.1987Kurt VonnegutBluebeardI myself haven't been in there since. And, yes, there is something in there. This is no shaggy dog story. After I die and am buried next to my darling Edith, and the executors of my estate open those doors at last, they will find more than just thin air in there. And it won't be some pathetic symbol, such as a paintbrush broken in two or my Purple Heart on an otherwise vacant and clean-swept floor.Labels: Kurt Vonnegut, Larry Niven, Spider Robinson
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boulevardier boo-luh-vaw-deer noun a wealthy man; a popular socialite 1904Joseph Conrad Nostromo As a matter of fact, he was an idle boulevardier, in touch with some smart journalists, made free of a few newspaper offices, and welcomed in the pleasure haunts of pressmen. 1922P. G. Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves ...the Bertram Wooster who eventually toppled off at the door of Kingham Manor was a very different Bertram from the gay and insouciant boulevardier of Bond Street and Piccadilly.1970Kurt Vonnegut Jailbird Clyde's and Fender's faces, however, were mirrors enough to tell me that I was something less than a gay boulevardier on the order of, say, the late Maurice Chevalier.Labels: Joseph Conrad, Kurt Vonnegut, P. G. Wodehouse
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Brobdingnagian brawb-ding-NA-gee-uhn adjective having incredible size; mammoth; immense 1963Kurt VonnegutCat's CradleHe was as nicely scaled as Gulliver among the Brobdingnagians, and as shrewdly watchful, too.1972Lin CarterUnder the Green starHe had no difficulty in recognizing Susy's peculiarly Brobdingnagian school-girl hand.2002David Weber and Steve WhiteThe Shiva OptionThe Brobdingnagian structure burned, crumpled, collapsed in on itself, shed streamers of debris.Labels: David Weber and Steve White, Kurt Vonnegut, Lin Carter
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