marplot
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
[edit ]Etymology
[edit ]From mar ("to spoil, to ruin ") + plot ("plan "). In earliest use as a character name in The Busie Body ,[1] by Susanna Centlivre, in 1709. Compare addle-plot .
Pronunciation
[edit ]Noun
[edit ]marplot (plural marplots )
- Synonym of spoilsport , one who ruins other's plans or enjoyment of something. [from 18th c.]
- 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XI, in The Understanding Heart:
- "The old marplot has discovered the baby," Monica whispered. "I suppose it cried and woke him up, and now he thinks he's witness to a miracle."
- 2006, Anne Birrell, "Myth as Sacred History", in Chinese Myth and Culture[2] , Cambridge: McGuinness China Monographs, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 92:
- Several classical texts relate that the mighty god Kung Kung (Common Work) [translating 共工 (Gònggōng)] plays the mythic role of the marplot, that is, one who seeks to destroy the cosmos.41 Chapter Three of Huai-nan Tzu [translating 淮南子 (Huáinánzǐ)], for example, narrates how the rebellious Kung Kung fought with the sky god Chuan Hsü [translating 顓頊 / 颛顼 ] for world domination and in his titanic fury Kung Kung broke one of the supports that separated the sky from the earth.42
- 2012, Michael Burleigh, "Keeping the Flame Alive", in Literary Review, section 402:
- Unthinking Anglo-Saxons regard him as a Gallic marplot, rather than the great twentieth-century statesman he was – certainly the greatest Frenchman since Napoleon.
Derived terms
[edit ]Adjective
[edit ]marplot (comparative more marplot, superlative most marplot)
- (now rare ) Ruining a plan, interfering, spoilsport. [from 18th c.]
- 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. V, letter 83:
- Let us argue the point with this pert, unruly, marplot conscience of mine...
Anagrams
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