retroactive idea stealers!

Fathoms (unadored) · 07-03-2005, 07:05 PM

I made up the name Casper Milktoast a few years ago, and now I find out it is not as strange or random as it was supposed to be. wtf?

(5) Milquetoast n.: Any shy, timid, or extremely gentle person. From H.T. Webster's cartoon character Caspar Milquetoast, central figure of the comic strip "The Timid Soul". First published in the N.Y. "World"; later in many other forms and publications (Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)

"The usual sense is that of a person who is timid or meek, unassertive. Such people may appear apathetic or unmotivated, but that’s not the reason for their being quiet. It’s an eponym, named after a fictional cartoon character named Caspar Milquetoast, invented by the American illustrator Harold T Webster in 1924. The strip was called The Timid Soul and appeared every Sunday in the New York Herald Tribune up to his death in 1953. Mr Webster said that his character was “the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick”. The name is just a Frenchified respelling of the old American English term milk toast, an uninspiring, bland dish which was created from slices of buttered toast laid in a dish of milk, usually considered to be food for invalids. There’s an even older foodstuff, milksop, which was untoasted bread soaked in milk, likewise something suitable only for infants or the sick. From the thirteenth century on, milksop was a dismissive term for “an effeminate spiritless man or youth; one wanting in courage or manliness”, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it. Mr Milquetoast is in the same tradition." (Source: World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–2004. All rights reserved)

alisonmonster · 09:41 PM

you mean you've never heard of the term milquetoast? i thought it was a fairly known word.

edit- who did you make the name up for? the word makes me think automatically of milhouse from the simpsons.

2Marlon2Brando · 07-04-2005, 12:11 AM

yeah i thought i came up with the name sworn to fun loyal to none but it turns out it is the motto of the hell's angels. so fuck me basically

DeviousJ · 07-04-2005, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 2Marlon2Brando
yeah i thought i came up with the name sworn to fun loyal to none but it turns out it is the motto of the hell's angels. so fuck me basically

I bet you get some interesting hits on your website. Or even threats, but that could be the same thing depending on how well up on your internet parlance you are

07-03-2005, 07:05 PM	#1
Fathoms (unadored) Apocalyptic Poster Location: Iceland Posts: 4,669	retroactive idea stealers! I made up the name Casper Milktoast a few years ago, and now I find out it is not as strange or random as it was supposed to be. wtf? (5) Milquetoast n.: Any shy, timid, or extremely gentle person. From H.T. Webster's cartoon character Caspar Milquetoast, central figure of the comic strip "The Timid Soul". First published in the N.Y. "World"; later in many other forms and publications (Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner) "The usual sense is that of a person who is timid or meek, unassertive. Such people may appear apathetic or unmotivated, but that’s not the reason for their being quiet. It’s an eponym, named after a fictional cartoon character named Caspar Milquetoast, invented by the American illustrator Harold T Webster in 1924. The strip was called The Timid Soul and appeared every Sunday in the New York Herald Tribune up to his death in 1953. Mr Webster said that his character was “the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick”. The name is just a Frenchified respelling of the old American English term milk toast, an uninspiring, bland dish which was created from slices of buttered toast laid in a dish of milk, usually considered to be food for invalids. There’s an even older foodstuff, milksop, which was untoasted bread soaked in milk, likewise something suitable only for infants or the sick. From the thirteenth century on, milksop was a dismissive term for “an effeminate spiritless man or youth; one wanting in courage or manliness”, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it. Mr Milquetoast is in the same tradition." (Source: World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–2004. All rights reserved)

07-03-2005, 09:37 PM	#2
alisonmonster Minion of Satan Location: gasoline alley Posts: 9,019	you mean you've never heard of the term milquetoast? i thought it was a fairly known word. edit- who did you make the name up for? the word makes me think automatically of milhouse from the simpsons. Last edited by alisonmonster : 07-03-2005 at 09:41 PM.

07-04-2005, 12:11 AM	#3
2Marlon2Brando Socialphobic Location: sometimes the same is different but mostly it's the same Posts: 14,519	yeah i thought i came up with the name sworn to fun loyal to none but it turns out it is the motto of the hell's angels. so fuck me basically