Words of the Year

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:58 PM -0500 1/2/07, davemarc wrote:
>I look forward to the results of this week's vote!
>
>As an infrequent kibitzer here, I thought I'd mention the following....
>
>
>"willie pep"--Is anyone here familiar with the use of the late boxer Willie
>Pep's name as a noun? I've got an unsourced citation (possibly from The New
>Yorker by March 9, 1990) that goes as follows:
>
>wil*lie pep n [fr. eponymous hero *Willie Pep* b. 1922, professional
>prizefighter]: The act of two people attempting to go in opposite directions
>who wind up blocking each other's path by spontaneously moving back and
>forth rapidly, but always remaining directly in front of the other person.
>"I'm sorry I'm late. I had a *willie pep* with a guy in the hall." (Frank
>Gannon)
>
>I know this term isn't really used, but perhaps there's a way to pay tribute
>to this useful but underused term when looking back on the year when Willie
>Pep died.
>
Well, that would deprive the immortal Alphonse and Gaston from their
rightful legacy.  Who were they, anyway?  A French vaudeville routine?

LH

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