Changes

According to the Random House Dictionary, the term '''milquetoast''' refers to "a very timid, unassertive, spineless [[person]], esp. one who is easily dominated or intimidated".<ref> Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc., ''"milquetoast."'', 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milquetoast]</ref>

According to the Random House Dictionary, the term '''milquetoast''' refers to "a very timid, unassertive, spineless [[person]], esp. one who is easily dominated or intimidated".<ref>Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc., ''"milquetoast."'', 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milquetoast]</ref>

The term comes from a character in Harold T. Webster's 1924-1953 ''New York Herald Tribune'' comic strip ''The Timid Soul''.  The character's name was Caspar Milquetoast; Webster described him as “the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick”.<ref>World Wide Words, ''MILQUETOAST'', by Michael Quinion,  1 Jun 2002 [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-mil1.htm]</ref>  The name is a Frenchified reference to the dish "milk toast", toast soaked in milk, which was fed to the sick. <ref>Don Markstein's Toonopedia™, ''THE TIMID SOUL''[http://www.toonopedia.com/milqueto.htm]</ref>  The term ''milksop'' (untoasted bread soaked in milk<ref>Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, ''"milksop"'', 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksop]</ref>) has been used since the fourteenth century to refer to "a weak or ineffectual person"<ref>Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. ''"milksoppy"'' 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksoppy]</ref>, "an effeminate or weak-minded person"<ref>"milksop." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksop]</ref>, or "a man lacking courage and other qualities deemed manly"<ref>"milksop." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksop]</ref>.

The term comes from a character in Harold T. Webster's 1924-1953 ''New York Herald Tribune'' comic strip ''The Timid Soul''.  The character's name was Caspar Milquetoast; Webster described him as “the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick”.<ref>[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-mil1.htm World Wide Words, ''MILQUETOAST'', by Michael Quinion,  1 Jun 2002]</ref>  The name is a Frenchified reference to the dish "milk toast", toast soaked in milk, which was fed to the sick.<ref>[http://www.toonopedia.com/milqueto.htm Don Markstein's Toonopedia™, ''THE TIMID SOUL'']</ref>  The term ''milksop'' (untoasted bread soaked in milk<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksop Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, ''"milksop"'', 15 Mar. 2009]</ref>) has been used since the fourteenth century to refer to "a weak or ineffectual person",<ref>Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. ''"milksoppy"'' 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksoppy]</ref> "an effeminate or weak-minded person",<ref>"milksop." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksop]</ref> or "a man lacking courage and other qualities deemed manly".<ref>"milksop." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 15 Mar. 2009. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/milksop]</ref>

{{cquote|And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow, / Long kept in Brittany at our mother's cost, / A milksop, one that never in his life / Felt so much cold as overshoes in snow?  --William Shakespeare, ''Richard III''<ref>William Shakespeare, ''Richard III'' [http://nfs.sparknotes.com/richardiii/page_334.html]</ref>}}

{{cquote|And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow, / Long kept in Brittany at our mother's cost, / A milksop, one that never in his life / Felt so much cold as overshoes in snow?  --William Shakespeare, ''Richard III''<ref>[http://nfs.sparknotes.com/richardiii/page_334.html William Shakespeare, ''Richard III'']</ref>}}