{"id":4976,"date":"2012-07-08T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2012-07-08T18:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/?p=4976"},"modified":"2012-07-02T09:27:08","modified_gmt":"2012-07-02T15:27:08","slug":"sumpsimus-mumpsimus-2-characters-in-search-of-a-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wotd\/sumpsimus-mumpsimus-2-characters-in-search-of-a-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Sumpsimus & Mumpsimus: 2 characters in search of a play…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe Erasmus wrote the play. They’re the original odd couple, I suppose. mjh<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/wordoftheday\/archive\/2012\/07\/01.html?src=rss<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n

mumpsimus \\MUHMP-suh-muhs\\ , noun<\/i>:
1.<\/b> Adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, memorization, practice, belief, etc., out of habit or obstinacy.
2.<\/b> A person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice. <\/p>\n

"I profess, my good lady," replied I, "that had any one but you made such a declaration, I should have thought it as capricious as that of the clergyman, who, without vindicating his false reading, preferred, from habit’s sake, his old Mumpsimus…<\/strong>
— Sir Walter Scott, The Talisman<\/cite><\/p>\n

Mr. Burgess, who sticks (I fancy) to his old mumpsimus<\/strong>, thought that the other gentleman might have given the canoe a shove to get it clear of the lock\u2026
— Ronald A. Knox, The Footsteps at the Lock<\/cite><\/p>\n

Mumpsimus<\/i> comes from a story (perhaps first told by Erasmus) about an illiterate priest who mispronounced a word while reciting the liturgy. The priest refused to change the word, even when he was corrected.<\/p>\n

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for mumpsimus<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/wordoftheday\/archive\/2012\/07\/01.html?src=rss<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/wordoftheday\/archive\/2012\/07\/02.html?src=rss<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n

sumpsimus \\SUHMP-suh-muhs\\ , noun<\/i>:<\/p>\n

1.<\/b> Adherence to or persistence in using a strictly correct term, holding to a precise practice, etc., as a rejection of an erroneous but more common form (opposed to mumpsimus).<\/p>\n

2.<\/b> A person who is obstinate or zealous about such strict correctness (opposed to mumpsimus).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/wordoftheday\/archive\/2012\/07\/02.html?src=rss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe Erasmus wrote the play. They’re the original odd couple, I suppose. mjh http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/wordoftheday\/archive\/2012\/07\/01.html?src=rss mumpsimus \\MUHMP-suh-muhs\\ , noun: 1. Adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, memorization, practice, belief, etc., out of habit or obstinacy. 2. A person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice. "I profess, my good lady," replied … Continue reading Sumpsimus & Mumpsimus: 2 characters in search of a play…<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wotd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4976"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4981,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4976\/revisions\/4981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}