Word: eccentricism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Charles Waterton was just another typical eccentric. In his 80s the eminent country squire was to be seen clambering around the upper branches of an oak tree with what was aptly described as the agility of an "adolescent gorilla." The beloved 27th lord of Walton Hall also devoted his distinguished...
The difference between the eccentric and the weirdo is, in its way, the difference between a man with a teddy bear in his hand and a man with a gun. We are also, of course, besieged by other kinds of deviants -- crackpots, oddballs, fanatics, quacks and cranks. But the weirdo...
The difference between the two starts with the words themselves: eccentric, after all, carries a distinguished Latin pedigree that refers, quite reasonably, to anything that departs from the center; weird, by comparison, has its mongrel origins in the Old English wyrd, meaning fate or destiny; and the larger, darker forces...
The job description includes the ability to find a dentist who will pull a tooth late on a Saturday night, round up a photographer to shoot a corpse, book a flight out of a city shut down by snow, arrange blood tests for a wedding, deliver 24 rolls of dental...
Built around 1907, the Tudor-Gothic mansion was a fine example of careful stonework and superbly finished interiors, set down on a luxuriant plot of waterfront lawn on Jamaica Bay. It began as a residence for Henry Heinschiemer, an eccentric New York banker whose security system included a sign that...