Thursday, November 25, 2010

The word of the day is tatterdemalion:

[f. TATTER n.1, or more prob. TATTERED a., with a factitious element suggesting an ethnic or descriptive derivative. The earlier pronunciation rimes with battalion, Italian, stallion, as shown by the frequent doubling of l.] 
    A person in tattered clothing; a ragged or beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin.  (OED)


"Valere is a fabulous creation, and Rylance—in bohemian tatterdemalion and pheasant-plumed cap, and sporting a set of false choppers that give him a scary smile—inhabits him to the limits of wonderful."

 - John Lahr, "Screaming Me-Mes: David Hirson and David Mamet on life in the theatre", 25 October 2010 The New Yorker

Still not entirely sure what he means here, since the definition's for an adjective, and he's using it as a noun.  In the kind of clothing that a tatterdemalion would wear?

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