GRGR Finale: Death and the City

[Terrance F. Flaherty]

The first part of the compound harebrained is often
misspelled hair in the belief that the meaning of the word
is “with a hair-sized brain” rather than “with no more sense
than a hare.” Though hairbrained has a long history, this
spelling is not established usage.



Andrew Foley wrote:
> 
> Paul Mackin wrote....
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >Fer heavenssake, "hairbrained" in NOT an insult. In Pynchon everything is
> >hairbrained. The more hairbrained the better . . .
> 
> It's not a word one sees a lot these days, but I remember it as being
> "harebrained", ie having the brain of a hare.