beezark (1919)

Cohen, Gerald Leonard gcohen at UMR.EDU
Thu Jun 30 20:13:37 UTC 2005


  If "beezark" does derive from "berserk" (crazy), this would not be inconsistent with Peter McGraw's story he read as a child. An animal guarding whatever should be intimidating, and indeed, the cat in the story devours anyone she doesn't like.  "Berserk/crazy" adds an element of unpredictability to the already ferocious qualities of a cat--and I for one would stay away.

Gerald Cohen

* * *

        [Original message from Peter McGraw, June 30, 2005]:
> I'm trying to square the comments so far with my only previous encounter with the word.  In one of my favorite books as a child, Secret of the
> Ancient Oak, a large-format book with stunning illustrations by Wolo, there's a character named Bezark (or Beezark) the Snifferpuss, who guards a
> strategic gate that the main character, a monkey named Sir Archibald, must pass on his quest to retrieve the king's crown.  Bezark is female and has feline features.  Sir Archibald expresses surprise that she knew he was coming, and she says, "I can smell 'em coming.  If I like 'em, I let 'em through.  If I don't, I eat 'em."  Why Bezark, I wonder?  Maybe the author (whose name I can't remember) heard the word or the surname and just liked the sound of it.
>
> Peter
>



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