Thursday, April 11, 2013

Word of the Day -- Factotum

Factotum is a cool word.  It means a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities or
a general servant.  I just like the sound of the word.  It has a nice ring to it. 

"Do everything!" That's a tall order, but it is exactly what a factotum is expected to do. It's also a literal translation of the New Latin term "factotum," which in turn traces to the Latin words "facere" ("to do") and "totum" ("everything"). In the 16th century, "factotum" was used in English much like a surname, paired with first names to create personalities such as "Johannes Factotum" (literally "John Do-everything"). Back then, it wasn't necessarily desirable to be called a "factotum"; the term was a synonym of "meddler" or "busybody." Now the word is more often used for a handy, versatile individual responsible for many different tasks.

No comments:

Castles of Anglamay - Aihrde

Inspiration for Castles in Aihrde, as appear or will appear on the updated maps. They were all found on pintrest, the first four are real wo...