Building a Better Vocabulary

was too much of a mugwump to take a stand on any hotly

contested issue.”

z Interestingly, an apocryphal etymology of mugwump surfaced

in the 1930s. In a speech delivered in 1936, Congressman Albert

J. Engel explained that a mugwump was “a bird who sits with its

mug on one side of the fence and its wump on the other.” Although

this etymology is false, it provides us with a humorous visual to

remember the word.

Bête noire (noun)

A person or thing that is particularly disliked, dreaded, or avoided.

z Bête noire came into English in the early 1800s from a French

word that, literally translated, means “black beast.” The modern

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Castro has been the bête noire of U.S. presidents for more than

50 years.”

z Bête noire isn’t restricted to people one dislikes or would like to

avoid but can also be used for things that fall into the same category.

For example: “High-fructose corn syrup has become the bête noire

of nutritionists.”

z Synonyms and related words for bête noire include archrival,

nemesis, bugbear, and anathema.

Doppelgänger (noun)

1. A ghostly double of a living person that haunts its living counterpart.


2. Someone who has a close, even eerily close, resemblance to another.

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1839, is an exploration of the idea of a doppelgänger. In the story,