Difference between revisions of "Milquetoast"
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'''Milquetoast''' refers to an unassertive and spineless person who can be easily intimidated or dominated. | '''Milquetoast''' refers to an unassertive and spineless person who can be easily intimidated or dominated. | ||
| − | 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, and 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 | + | 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, and 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) 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>. |
Revision as of 02:44, March 16, 2009
Milquetoast refers to an unassertive and spineless person who can be easily intimidated or dominated.
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, and Webster described him as “the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick”.[1] The name is a Frenchified reference to the dish "milk toast", toast soaked in milk, which was fed to the sick. [2] The term milksop (untoasted bread soaked in milk) has been used since the fourteenth century to refer to a weak or ineffectual person.[3].