Thursday, April 19, 2012

A to Z Challenge: Q - Quixotic

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:

A Daft Scots Lass said...

I definitely don't suffer from that.

Jessica Bell said...

Noice word! Love how you related it to your blog title. Very clever :)

Anonymous said...

Brilliant. I'd love to create a word like that. Or a character so amazing his name becomes a word!

Yvonne Osborne said...

It'd sure be nice to suffer from that! I like the drawing. And I see I've been mispronouncing the word!

Laurita said...

Spectacular word. I'm going to have to find a way to work it into conversation.

Suzie F. said...

Happy "Q" Day, Matt!

Rebecca said...

one of my favorite stories ever

Natalie Aguirre said...

Love that word. And Q is definitely your word from the alphabet! I think your blog name is great.

ShaunaKelleyWrites said...

Seem we oth gave a shut out to Quixote today!

Bish Denham said...

I picked Quixote today as well! He's a popular dude.

Unknown said...

My son is reading the billion page Don Quixote right now. I didn't know that word came from there. Cool.

A Beer for the Shower said...

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.

Zan Marie said...

Quixotic! One of my favorite words. You keep finding the good ones, Matthew. ; )

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

An excellent Q word cleverly written .

Yvonne.

farawayeyes said...

I love this word, I love the concept and I love the Don.

Old Kitty said...

My random Q fact. I had a teacher once who insisted q is written always as "qu". Hm.
:-)

Take care
x

Mary Aalgaard said...

What a great word. I love it. I'm going to embrace that word and its meaning.

Peace.

Play off the Page

Claire Hennessy said...

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!

Sarah Ahiers said...

i like your blog title because it makes it abbreviates really well.

Bryan Russell said...

Oddly enough, I used to have a framed print of that picture. Two of my favorite literary characters.

Tasha Seegmiller said...

I love this word. Sometimes, I wish I was a little more quixotic.

Rick Daley said...

I never made the direct association for this word and Don Quixote. Very cool!

Elise Fallson said...

Just here to learn a thing or two and play with your sidebar buttons. :P

Cherie Reich said...

Quixotic is an awesome word!

Dana said...

Another word I love to say!

kate n said...

I think this is how my friends and family see me...which can be frustrating as its more my disposition as to my mentality.

cleemckenzie said...

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.

Nancy Thompson said...

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!

Dani said...

I followed your blog because of the title.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

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.

Margo Berendsen said...

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)

Lynn Proctor said...

not to brag or even if it is something to brag about--i have been accused of being this

D Mann said...

I linked to you today - thanks for inspiration!

Anonymous said...

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.

Anonymous said...

Quixote. One of my all-time favorite characters.

And this comic. (Read it, then make sure you read the hovertext. Best sentence ever.)

Arlee Bird said...

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

Unknown said...

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).

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Matthew .. love the drawing and the link across to your own blog title .. all from Don Quixote ..

Great Q - Mr QQQE .. cheers Hilary

Donna K. Weaver said...

Considering my Q post, I'm sure you know my feelings on this word.. Love it and what it stands for.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Already read your interview! And your blog title is unique. That's a plus.

Leslie S. Rose said...

Yay for Don Quixote. I've always thought of Bilbo Baggins as being a touch quixotic.

Jessica Salyer said...

I knew and love this word! And it's my word for today too. :)

Nate Wilson said...

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?

Hart Johnson said...

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.

Sub Radar (Mike) said...

You're not going to believe this, but I literally JUST made the Quixote - quixotic connection. I feel so dumb haha.

Jen said...

Ah, to dream the impossible dream! :)

Sarah Allan said...

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.

Marta Szemik said...

I think I found a new word to describe myself:)

Anonymous said...

I love this word. It's right up there with serendipity.

Jemi Fraser said...

So not surprised to find out you like the letter Q! :) Off to Kela's...

Rob and Lisa said...

I love this word and the Picasso picture.

4 Life said...

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

Andrew Leon said...

I still need to read that. Been meaning to for 25 years. It's a great word!

Traci Kenworth said...

Good word choice.

Hektor Karl said...

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?)