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zanymore about zany

zany


  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Zany  \Za"ny\,  v.  t. 
  To  mimic.  [Obs.] 
 
  Your  part  is  acted;  give  me  leave  at  distance  To  zany 
  it  --Massinger. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Zany  \Za"ny\,  n.;  pl  {Zanies}.  [It.  zanni  a  buffoon, 
  merry-andrew,  orig.  same  as  Giovanni  John,  i.  e.,  merry  John, 
  L.  Ioannes  Gr  ?,  Heb.  Y[=o]kh[=a]n[=a]n,  prop.,  the  Lord 
  graciously  gave:  cf  F.  zani,  fr  the  Italian.  Cf 
  {Jenneting}.] 
  A  merry-andrew;  a  buffoon. 
 
  Then  write  that  I  may  follow  and  so  be  Thy  echo,  thy 
  debtor,  thy  foil,  thy  zany.  --Donne. 
 
  Preacher  at  once,  and  zany  of  thy  age.  --Pope. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  zany 
  adj  1:  (informal  terms)  "gave  me  a  cockamamie  reason  for  not 
  going";  "wore  a  goofy  hat";  "a  silly  idea";  "some 
  wacky  plan  for  selling  more  books"  [syn:  {cockamamie}, 
  {cockamamy},  {fool(a)},  {goofy},  {sappy},  {silly},  {wacky}, 
  {unreasonable}] 
  2:  like  a  clown;  "a  buffoonish  walk";  "a  clownish  face";  "a 
  zany  sense  of  humor"  [syn:  {buffoonish},  {clownish},  {clowlike}] 
  n  1:  a  buffoon  in  one  of  the  old  comedies;  imitates  others  for 
  ludicrous  effect 
  2:  a  stupid  fool  [syn:  {fathead},  {goof},  {jackass},  {goose},  {cuckoo}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  ZANY,  n.  A  popular  character  in  old  Italian  plays,  who  imitated  with 
  ludicrous  incompetence  the  _buffone_,  or  clown,  and  was  therefore  the 
  ape  of  an  ape;  for  the  clown  himself  imitated  the  serious  characters 
  of  the  play.  The  zany  was  progenitor  to  the  specialist  in  humor,  as 
  we  to-day  have  the  unhappiness  to  know  him  In  the  zany  we  see  an 
  example  of  creation;  in  the  humorist,  of  transmission.  Another 
  excellent  specimen  of  the  modern  zany  is  the  curate,  who  apes  the 
  rector,  who  apes  the  bishop,  who  apes  the  archbishop,  who  apes  the 
  devil. 
 
 




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