"Catch-22" as Common Speech

[Kaminker/Wood]

These are great examples of specific words from literature becoming
generalized as adjectives.  But to clarify, what my wife and I are talking
about is *commonly used expressions*.  Everybody on the street and all your
co-workers have used Big Brother and Catch-22, but I'd say most of your
examples -- like "quixotic," "brobdingnagian" and "Katzenjammer" -- are not
widely known to a non-literature reading or writing public. 

Someone on the wallace list added: "Lolita"


Allan


At 05:25 PM 12/14/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>> Can anyone think of other phrases from fiction [Laura says mythology and
>> the Bible don't count] that are part of our everyday lexicon?
>
>here's just a few:  quixotic, gargantuan, mickey mouse, wimpy, blimp, fritz,
>braggadocio, utopia, milquetoast, blimp, brobdingnagian...a few of these are
>from comic strips Disney, Popeye, Katzenjammer, ohh yeah, malapropism,
>"yellow journalism" (maybe...?) pandemonium, and if all you read is this
>listserve, "sez" qould be a good one...
>
>Lemme see if I can research some more....
>
>Eric Zumbach
>LAN
>ehzumbac at prodigy.net
>821-0033
>"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art."
>Cervantes
>"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art."
>Pierre Menard
>
>
>