Word of the Day

Thursday, November 22, 2007

deipnosophist

\dyp-NOS-uh-fist\ , noun;

Someone who is skilled in table talk.

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Quotes:

At the age of six his future as a deipnosophist seemed certain. Guzzling filched apples he loved to prattle. Hogging the pie he invariably piped up and rattled on.

-- Ellis Sharp, "The Bloating of Nellcock",

Origin:

Deipnosophist comes from the title of a work written by the Greek Athenaeus in about 228 AD, Deipnosophistai, in which a number of wise men sit at a dinner table and discuss a wide range of topics. It is derived from deipnon, "dinner" + sophistas, "a clever or wise man."