Today I offer part two in the “words from fairy tales” week on Wordsmith.org. We have a partnership with Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming today.
I have been reading a book about fairy tales called The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales (by Maria Tatar) because of this topic. The book is very interesting (to the English major in me), with a Game of Thrones-like back cover describing “Murder, mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide, and incest: the darker side of classic fairy tales.” So far, it is about the Brothers Grimm and their attempt to collect the folktales passed on verbally up to that point, onto the pages of their book.
Now, for today’s words:
§ sleeping beauty
noun: Someone or something that lies dormant for a long time.
Etymology
After the princess of a fairy tale who is cursed by a wicked fairy. The princess pricks her finger on a spindle and sleeps for 100 years until awakened by the kiss of a prince. Earliest documented use: 1729.
Notes:
In finance, a sleeping beauty is an asset, for example, a startup, that is an attractive target for takeover, but that has not yet been approached by someone.
Use:
“Eighty fatalities and 1,000 wounded citizens later, a pall had descended on Prague, which would now be a sleeping beauty for more than two decades.”
Amotz Asa-El; The Prague Spring at 50; Jerusalem Post (Israel); Aug 24, 2018.
§ prince charming
noun: A suitor who fulfills the expectations of his beloved.
Etymology
After Prince Charming, the fairy-tale hero of many stories, such as, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Earliest documented use: 1850.
Use:
“Judith reluctantly attends a cocktail party where she meets Howard Rose, a charismatic lawyer … But Judith will come to realize Howard is no prince charming.”
Adriana Delgado; Beachy Books (Even If You’re Not Going Near the Beach); The Palm Beach Post (Florida); May 28, 2020.
I hope your day is full of wishes granted by your own personal fairy godmother!
For Cinderella 2021: Billy Porter as genderless fairy godmother.
Kara Church
Pronouns: she/her/hers
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