Word of the Day

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

This is one big word, so write something using it and post it in the comments.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19

Brobdingnagian

[brohb-ding-NAG-ee-ən] 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: english, early 18th century

• Of gigantic size
• Of or relating to the fictional land of Brobdingnag

Examples of Brobdingnagian in a sentence

• There was no way the Brobdingnagian bouquet of flowers was going to fit on her tiny desk.
• His favorite parts of 'Gulliver’s Travels' were the elaborate descriptions of the Brobdingnagian people.

About Brobdingnagian

The adjective "Brobdingnagian," taken from the name of a mythical land of giants, describes anything of tremendous size. It could be comparatively large, such as a king-sized candy bar to a fun size, or it could be indisputably mammoth, such as the Great Wall of China.

Did you Know?

This gigantic adjective comes directly from the pages of Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel “Gulliver’s Travels.” In it, Lemuel Gulliver landed in the fictional land of Brobdingnag after his ship was blown off course. This strange country is inhabited by giants, standing some 60 feet tall. The geographical features, plants, and animals are all in scale with the giants. Brobdingnagian (always capitalized) has come to mean anything of giant proportions.

Comments

[pfrye.livejournal.com]

Napoleon Solo had to laugh as he watched his Russian partner lift his foot long grinder to his mouth and try to figure out where to bite. The roll was piled high with ham, beef, turkey and chicken, seven types of cheese and who knew what else. Napoleon fondly teased Illya, "IK that sandwich is positively brobdingnagian!"
"What?"
"You know Jonathan Swift? Gulliver’s Travels?"
"I've never read it"

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

It is the sort of book Illya would have overlooked. Hope he enjoyed both the roll and the book.

And well done, Napoleon, in saying the word smoothly at first go.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Solo and Kuryakin were hanging upsidedow, roped to hooks and suspended from a heavy rafter. There hands were bound behind their backs making it all the more impossible for them to escape.

"I knew this assignment was positively brobdinagian,"Illya said," but for us to be captured this quickly makes me suspect we were rat-finked out."

"That's ratted out tovarisch, the once doing it would be called the rat-fink,"Napoleon said.

"Illya, how is it you can use a word like brobdingnagian right, but simple references like ratting someone out, or rat-fink wrong."

"Brobdingnagian is a legitimate part of speech as an adjective, the other words you are referring to are American slang, which I am still trying to grasp, as often there is no grammatical rhyme or reason to it.

"Now you know how I felt when I was learning Russian."

"You still are, but it is better than your French."

"Here we go again..." Napoleon huffed.