Quixotic
Q oh Q, how shall I compare thee ... er, something like that. If you can't tell from the title of my blog, I like the letter Q. I remember when I first settled on that title, and how worried I was people would think it was stupid. It seemed a bit Quixotic to me, but people ended up liking it, and it all worked out.
quix·ot·ic [kwik-sot-ik] adj. caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality
Synonyms: unrealistic, idealistic, romantic, absurd, imaginary, visionary, fanciful, impractical, dreamy, Utopian, impulsive, fantastical, impracticable, chivalrous, unworldly, chimerical
Etymology: "extravagantly chivalrous," 1791, from Don Quixote, romantic, impractical hero of Cervantes' satirical novel "Don Quixote de la Mancha" (1605). His name lit. means "thigh," also "a cuisse" (a piece of armor for the thigh), in Mod.Sp. quijote, from L. coxa "hip."
Like Gargantuan, this is another word that comes from a novel. Isn't it fun to imagine writing such an important piece of literature that terms from your novel become widespread words?
UPDATE: I completely forgot this was coming up, but Kela McLellenad talked me into an interview not long ago, and you can read it, here.
55 comments:
I definitely don't suffer from that.
Noice word! Love how you related it to your blog title. Very clever :)
Brilliant. I'd love to create a word like that. Or a character so amazing his name becomes a word!
It'd sure be nice to suffer from that! I like the drawing. And I see I've been mispronouncing the word!
Spectacular word. I'm going to have to find a way to work it into conversation.
Happy "Q" Day, Matt!
one of my favorite stories ever
Love that word. And Q is definitely your word from the alphabet! I think your blog name is great.
Seem we oth gave a shut out to Quixote today!
I picked Quixote today as well! He's a popular dude.
My son is reading the billion page Don Quixote right now. I didn't know that word came from there. Cool.
As a writer, your last sentence made me salivate. What a thought. Unless, of course, my word was something less romantic than 'quixotic' and more in the realm of something like 'ba-donk-a-donk.' Then in that case, please don't give me credit.
Quixotic! One of my favorite words. You keep finding the good ones, Matthew. ; )
An excellent Q word cleverly written .
Yvonne.
I love this word, I love the concept and I love the Don.
My random Q fact. I had a teacher once who insisted q is written always as "qu". Hm.
:-)
Take care
x
What a great word. I love it. I'm going to embrace that word and its meaning.
Peace.
Play off the Page
Excellent word. Had to drop by again today to see which Q word you used (of course) but also to say I used more Q words that you can shake a stick at on mine AND managed to slip in "pilfer" Ha!
i like your blog title because it makes it abbreviates really well.
Oddly enough, I used to have a framed print of that picture. Two of my favorite literary characters.
I love this word. Sometimes, I wish I was a little more quixotic.
I never made the direct association for this word and Don Quixote. Very cool!
Just here to learn a thing or two and play with your sidebar buttons. :P
Quixotic is an awesome word!
Another word I love to say!
I think this is how my friends and family see me...which can be frustrating as its more my disposition as to my mentality.
Yep. Those synonyms are definitely Quixote-ish. And you're right when you say how "fun" it is to imagine writing characters that stir readers to create new vocabulary. Lilliputian springs to mind as another example.
Love how this character's name was turned into an adjective! As an author, could you ever imagine adding to the world lexicon in such a way?! Marvelous!
I followed your blog because of the title.
I thought for sure that today was going to be a query.
As an aside note, I used this word to describe myself in a team building exercise. People thought I was weird.
I really thought you would do Quintessential for Q!!! But Quixotic is good, too. I actually thought it meant paradoxical, boy this is one word I had way off!! Probably because I snoozed through this story in high school. All I remember was the windmills.
(Visiting A-Z blogger)
not to brag or even if it is something to brag about--i have been accused of being this
I linked to you today - thanks for inspiration!
Don Quixote is the best selling, non-religious and non-political work of fiction of all time. Great post!
Love the banner. This is something i would use for my Facebook banner.
Quixote. One of my all-time favorite characters.
And this comic. (Read it, then make sure you read the hovertext. Best sentence ever.)
You like the letter Q? I would have never guessed it. Now I'm off to conquer a few blog windmills before my Dulcinea gets home from work.
Lee
Places I Remember
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
I love this post...and I love the picture. Did you draw it? It speaks volumes in its simplicity.
Rhia from Five Minute Piece for Inspiration (about #776 on A to Z list).
Hi Matthew .. love the drawing and the link across to your own blog title .. all from Don Quixote ..
Great Q - Mr QQQE .. cheers Hilary
Considering my Q post, I'm sure you know my feelings on this word.. Love it and what it stands for.
Already read your interview! And your blog title is unique. That's a plus.
Yay for Don Quixote. I've always thought of Bilbo Baggins as being a touch quixotic.
I knew and love this word! And it's my word for today too. :)
I've always loved the word. Though now that I think about it, his squire got a raw deal. Why aren't those who deal well with quixotic people called panzaic?
Oh, excellent word! I love Don Quixote--and I love it for the exact reason that the character is so self important while the author is making fart jokes. The contrast is brilliant.
You're not going to believe this, but I literally JUST made the Quixote - quixotic connection. I feel so dumb haha.
Ah, to dream the impossible dream! :)
What a great word! I learned something new today. Your blog was recommended to me because I'll be querying soon, and I was happy to see that you're A-Zing as well. You have a great blog and a new follower.
I think I found a new word to describe myself:)
I love this word. It's right up there with serendipity.
So not surprised to find out you like the letter Q! :) Off to Kela's...
I love this word and the Picasso picture.
Quirky...very quirky. And I mean that as a compliment! Love the name of your blog, as well as words that start with Q. And, I learned a new word too! Quixotic! Fun to say, love the meaning!
Texas Playwright Chick
I still need to read that. Been meaning to for 25 years. It's a great word!
Good word choice.
I think I liked that word so much that I used in one of my college application essays. (Probably not well, but it's the effort that counts, right?)
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