Results: What The Dickens!
Published on 07/30/2016
QUESTIONS
GO to COMMENTS
Comments
1.
1.
For anyone out there who has attempted to read Dickens or the other classics, some of the words used may seem old-fashioned and completely antiquated. After all, how many of you would use the word "thou" or "becomest" in your everyday speech? However, you may be surprised to learn that some of the words or phrases we use everyday can be traced back hundreds and hundreds of years ago to the classics. Here are a few from Charles Dickens -- how many do you know came from his writings?
The creeps -- a feeling of revulsion or fear -- "She was constantly complaining of the cold, and of its occasioning a visitation in her back which she called 'the creeps'." —David Copperfield, 1850
21%
364 votes
Devil-may-care -- reckless careless -- "Not that this would have worried him much, anyway — he was a mighty free and easy, roving, devil-may-care sort of person, was my uncle, gentlemen." —The Pickwick Papers, 1837
23%
411 votes
On the rampage -- to act or move in a ramping manner --"When I got home at night, and delivered this message for Joe, my sister 'wenton the Rampage,' in a more alarming degree than at any previous period." — Great Expectations, 1860
20%
358 votes
Sawbones -- a surgeon --"'What! Don't you know what a sawbones is, sir?' inquired Mr. Weller. 'I thought everybody know'd as a sawbones was a surgeon.'" — The Pickwick Papers, 1837
16%
288 votes
Abuzz -- excessive gossip or activity -- "The court was all astir and a-buzz, when the black sheep — whom many fell away from in dread — pressed him into an obscure corner among the crowd." — A Tale of Two Cities, 1859
18%
323 votes
Knew none of these
60%
1054 votes
2.
2.
Some of our other phrases or words were also coined by writers. How many of these did you know the origins?
Nerd -- first appears in print in 1950 in the children's book If I Ran the Zoo by American children's writer Dr Seuss
17%
298 votes
Pedestrian --no one had an English word for someone who goes about on foot until 1791, when William Wordsworth coined the noun
14%
248 votes
Scaredy-cat -- A timid person; a coward. Introduced in 1933 by US author Dorothy Parker in a short story The Waltz
18%
325 votes
Shotgun wedding -- introduced in print by Sinclair Lewis in 1927 in his novel Elmer Gantry
18%
321 votes
Workaholic -- Dr Wayne E Oates wrote Confessions of a Workaholic: The Facts about Work Addiction, adding this word to the English language
16%
290 votes
Meme -- coined in 1976 by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins
7%
130 votes
Litterbug -- coined in 1931 by Alice Rush McKeon, a fierce and early advocate of highway beautification
13%
233 votes
Factoid -- term created by Norman Mailer in 1973 for a piece of information that becomes accepted as a fact, although it is not actually true
9%
165 votes
Not aware of any of these
61%
1082 votes
3.
3.
Have you ever used the expression "What the Dickens"-- and did you know it has nothing to do with Charles Dickens? It is in fact an expression first attributed to Shakespeare back in 1602, in "The Merry Wives Of Windsor", and Dickens actually stands for the devil. Did you know this?
I've used it and knew this
12%
207 votes
I've used it and did not know this
21%
375 votes
I've never used it, but knew this
13%
233 votes
I've never used it, but did not know this
21%
373 votes
Have never heard this expression
31%
556 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
24 votes
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 0.68% | 12 | |
| Na | 0.17% | 3 |
| N/A | 0.11% | 2 |
| Fuck you, Harriet | 0.06% | 1 |
| I've heard it said and knew what it meant. | 0.06% | 1 |
| Your surveys are too long and complicated. We're just here for the points. | 0.06% | 1 |
| j;jbkbjibhbh | 0.06% | 1 |
| I am not sure if I have used this expression. | 0.06% | 1 |
| I knew it wasn't about Dickens, but I didn't know it came from shackspear | 0.06% | 1 |
| no | 0.06% | 1 |
COMMENTS