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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club
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To: Justa Werkenstiff who wrote (11812)2/9/2000 10:30:00 AM
From: Wally Mastroly  Read Replies (1) of 15132
 
* OT * Re: origins and meaning of "namby-pamby <g>." Fed-speak equivalent is "reduplication":

[After Namby-Pamby, a satire on the poetry of Ambrose Philips (1674-1749) by Henry Carey (1687?-1743).]

Word History: We are being very literary when we call someone a namby-pamby. This word is derived from the name of Ambrose Philips, a little-known poet who wrote verse that incurred the sharp ridicule of two other 18th-century poets, Alexander Pope and his friend Henry Carey. Their ridicule, inspired by political differences and literary rivalry, actually had little to do with the quality of Philips's poetry. In poking fun at some children's verse written by Philips, Carey used the nickname Namby Pamby: “So the Nurses get by Heart Namby Pamby's Little Rhimes.” Pope then used the name in the 1733 edition of his satirical epic The Dunciad.

The first part of Carey's coinage came from Amby, or Ambrose. Pamby repeated the sound and form but added the initial of Philips's name. Such a process of repetition is called reduplication. After being popularized by Pope, namby-pamby went on to be used generally for people or things that are insipid, sentimental, or weak.

dictionary.com
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