wimpy
weak, not strong
TRANSLATION
wimpy = erbärmlich, kümmerlich, schwach
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
In August 2003, David Blaine contacted Guinness asking for inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records. Beginning on September 5th, the famed illusionist explained, he would begin living without food in a clear plastic 7' x 7' x 3' box suspended above the river Thames in London - and would remain encased therein for 44-days.
Ironically, Guinness judges promptly rejected Blaine's so-called feat as too WIMPY. The longest hunger strike, they noted, ended (in 1973) after 385 days, when Dennis Galer Goodwin protested his innocence in Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire - he was fed by tube orally.
Londoners were equally dismissive. During Blaine's attempt, many onlookers harassed him by bombarding his box with eggs and other projectiles. One man attempted to cut his water supply. And another group taunted* the magician - by dangling a cheeseburger from a remote controlled helicopter!
*taunt = verspotten
Ironically, Guinness judges promptly rejected Blaine's so-called feat as too WIMPY. The longest hunger strike, they noted, ended (in 1973) after 385 days, when Dennis Galer Goodwin protested his innocence in Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire - he was fed by tube orally.
Londoners were equally dismissive. During Blaine's attempt, many onlookers harassed him by bombarding his box with eggs and other projectiles. One man attempted to cut his water supply. And another group taunted* the magician - by dangling a cheeseburger from a remote controlled helicopter!
*taunt = verspotten
Did you
know?
wimp
As the Oxford English Dictionary defines the term, a "wimp" is "a feeble or ineffectual person; one who is spineless or 'wet.' "Wimp" is "used only as a term of abuse or contempt."
The most likely origin of wimp is the word "whimper," (winseln, wimmern) a characteristic activity of wimps. Supporting this theory is the fact that when "wimp" first appeared in the 1920's in England, it was as college slang for a woman or girl, based on the idea that women are more likely to weep than men.
As the Oxford English Dictionary defines the term, a "wimp" is "a feeble or ineffectual person; one who is spineless or 'wet.' "Wimp" is "used only as a term of abuse or contempt."
The most likely origin of wimp is the word "whimper," (winseln, wimmern) a characteristic activity of wimps. Supporting this theory is the fact that when "wimp" first appeared in the 1920's in England, it was as college slang for a woman or girl, based on the idea that women are more likely to weep than men.
