An MSNBC anchor referred to Donald Trump*’s “quixotic quest” to overturn the result of the presidential election. Uh, no.
Trump* is out of touch with reality, and his quest is bound to fail. But his effort isn’t quixotic, not “foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals,” not “marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action” (Merriam-Webster). To the contrary, Trump*’s effort is base, ignoble, and self-serving, a subversion of democracy and a cheap con. There’s nothing quixotic about it.
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Not quixotic
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At the top of your 'post a comment page' it says 'no brickbats' so I am not sure if you'll like this comment 🙂 because the misuse of 'quixotic', which is endemic, is one of my brickbats. When I saw this in the London Times this morning it reminded me of your post. The writer of the story is suffering temporary memory loss and can't remember where he lives. He is "reluctant to take the quixotic course of phoning a friend to find out the answer..." which seems to me like an eminently practical solution to an admittedly worrying problem and not at all quixotic.
https://archive.is/8mdk7
Maybe we can start a meme : #notquixotic!
Greetings from Brabant.
johannes
Thanks for that example, Johannes. It sounds odd to me too.
Your comment made me look again at brickbat, which I’ve always thought of as something like a brick thrown through a window. But I looked at Merriam-Webster’s definitions: “a fragment of a hard material (such as a brick) especially : one used as a missile,” “an uncomplimentary remark.” I don’t mind critical remarks! So I’m going to remove brickbats. I think potshots already covers what I’m looking to avoid — a kind of drive-by nastiness.
I will have my radar on for future appearances of quixotic.
ha interesting! for some reason i had always thought of and used 'brickbat' as a kind of pet hate...
Hmm — could you be thinking of “bugbear”?
Ha well how about that?! You might be right. English is my second language and I may well have confused the two at some point. Thank you! 🤓
You’re welcome, Johannes. :)
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