Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 28, 2011
fusty \FUHS-tee\, adjective:
1. Having a stale smell; moldy; musty.
2. Old-fashioned or out-of-date, as architecture, furnishings, or the like.
3. Stubbornly conservative or old-fashioned; fogyish.
"I asked you a question, old man. Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?" the B.O. demanded once again.
"Oh, stinky B.O., you have much to learn. This beautiful White House doesn't belong to you, it belongs to the people," the old man rejoined.
"Whatever. This is an old fusty mausoleum as far as I'm concerned, just like that old piece of crap known as the Constitution that all those crazy Tea Party people are so worked up over. Anyway, you still didn't answer my question," the B.O. sneered.
"Like I said, you have much to learn. Tonight you will be visited by the ghosts of Presidents Past, Present, and Future. From them you will learn what you must do to stay in power."
"You're crazy, old man. I am the Emperor of the World and no one comes before me! Whatever I decree, it shall happen. By the way, where is everybody?"
"Never mind that, B.O., just know that you will be visited tonight. Take heed, for your very existence depends on it." And with that last admonition, the old man disappeared into thin air!
--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog
He could even smell the old woman in the buggy beside him, smell the fusty camphor-reeking shawl and even the airless black cotton umbrella in which (he would not discover until they had reached the house) she had concealed a hatchet and a flashlight.-- William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!
I won't stop accusing you of being fusty if you don't stop acting that way. For God's sake, what is wrong with seeing what a rock concert is like? I'd like to find out.-- Lionel Shriver, The Female of the Species
Fusty comes from the Old French word fust, meaning a “wine cask.” As wine casks are stuffy and smelly, the adjective is a logical association.
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