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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>.

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>.