Eric Reiss wrote:
> That would be "Pulcinella" in Italian. The Anglicised version is
> somewhat less common.
Yeah, that's what one'd expect but I actually copy & pasted it
from the OED.
Punchinello, n. etymology:
| Italian regional (Naples) Policinella, the name of a character in
| the commedia dell'arte (1621; Italian Pulcinella), probably
| < pollicino chick ( < post-classical Latin pullicenus: see poussin n.)
| + -ella-ella suffix, apparently so called from the croaking voice
| and hooked nose associated with the character. Compare French
| Polichinelle, the name of a character in the commedia dell'arte
| (1649), the name of a character in a puppet show (1680)."
And here's are two more "[x] as Punch" quotes for your edification:
1818, by T. Moore in _Fudge Family in Paris_
"Give me the useful peaching Rat; Not things as mute as Punch, when bought."
1850, by Dickens in _David Copperfield_
"I am as proud as Punch to think that I once had the honor of being
connected with your family."
Source: Oxford English Dictionary,
Third edition, July 2010; online version November 2010
Quiz: order these quantities (which are ALL in the OED) in
order of magnitude:
bazillion
gazillion
gillion
jillion
squillion
zillion
Paola
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Received on Thu Feb 24 2011 - 13:04:31 EST
