Jun's Word of the week.

1.      RUFFIAN (N., V., Adj.) The noun ruffian is a word that refers to:

a)      “A brutal or lawless villain; a violent criminal, a thug. Also in weakened sense: any rough or disreputable person.”

b)      “In the 16th and 17th centuries: a swaggering bully or thug characterized by extravagant dress and long hair.”

c)      ” A prostitute's pimp” “A boxer or pugilist who fights to win, without regard to rules or ‘science’”

d)     “A member of a group of dandies of the early 19th cent., noted for their rowdy behaviour and sporting prowess”

          When ruffian is used as an adjective or verb, it seems to be conversed from the noun, as it has the quality of being ruffian in their definitions, according to Oxford English Dictionary. It seems to be a very old word; the oldest date that OED tracks was around 16^th century. However, the word bully replaced ruffian, and the use of ruffian decreased more and more. I came up with this word when I was reading Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights,” which is not my favorite but good novel. I believe this word does fit better than the word bully, because to me, bully sounds more childish while ruffian sounds more dangerous. Ruffian was also the American champion thoroughbred racehorse, which was ranked top of the racehorses in 20^th century (There is also a TV film about that horse: “Ruffian.”). (Sources: Oxford English Dictionary, Wikipedia)

 

2.      BUCKETLIST (N.) The word Bucketlist refers to “a list of things that people hopes to experience or achieve during his or her lifetime,” according to Oxford English Dictionary. It was originally derived from the term “kick the bucket,” which refers a death of a person. However it became popular after the success of the movie “The Bucket List” in 2007, with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. In the movie, two men are about to die from their illness but they cooperate and decide to do what they wanted to do in their lifetime, and the list they make is the “bucketlist.” (it is a good movie, worth watching). (sources: Oxford English Dictionary, Wikipedia)

 

3.      “IT AIN’T OVER UNTIL THE FAT LADY SINGS.” It means that a person should not hastily guess the result when it is still in progress. Wikipedia describes that it is specifically used “when a situation is (or appears to be) nearing its conclusion.” As I was doing a research, I found this phrase very interesting. Such phrase seems to come from the grand opera, where an overweight soprano sings. Wikipedia refers to the image of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen as the starting point of such phrase. In that opera, the “fat lady” refers to Valkyrie Brunhilde, a big woman with helmets and weapons, and her aria in the last part the opera leads directly to the end of opera.

              Another interesting part of this phrase is its history of development as a popular phrase. Such term was first used around 1976, by sportswriter Dan Cook, in his column of San Antonio News-Express. At that time, Washington Bullets were beating San Antonio Spurs for the playoff, and Bullets coach Dick Motta used such term as a warning against overconfidence. Surprisingly, Bullets won the championship; and the phrase became the team’s rallying cry, and it became very popular.

# It was also used in the lyrics of Gym Class Heroes’ song The Fighter: “And I’ll be in your corner like Mick, baby, ‘til the end/ Or when you hear a song from that big lady.” This made me to wonder how it works; because professor said that idiom works only when used in groups of words. So would it still mean the same, even after changing the way of saying it?