pabulum (noun) = trite words (pronounced ‘pab-yuh-luhm’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Readers lap up the pabulum of self-help books, such as those explaining how the perfect relationship can be yours
‘pabulum’ derives from the Latin word ‘pabulum’, meaning ‘food’. The negative tones of the current usage were born in 1932, when the Mead Johnson Company gave the name ‘Pablum’ (a contracted form of ‘pabulum’) to a bland cereal that was a food for babies.
Forty or so years later, in 1970, US Vice President Spiro Agnew used the term to refer to ‘mushy’ political prose, and the damaging connotations – of ‘bland intellectual nourishment’ and hence ‘trite words’ – have stuck ever since.
Incidentally, all of this negativity surrounding the word (and the cereal, by implication) is a bit unfair, because ‘Pablum’ (the cereal) – although it may have tasted bland – was a great help to millions of children, providing them with vital vitamin D that stopped the rickets epidemic in its tracks. But let’s not focus on the good points here: the word ‘pabulum’ is now a defamatory one, unfairly or not.
pace (+ ‘name of person’) (preposition) = with all due respect to (+’name of person’) (pronounced ‘pah-chey’) from the Latin, pace: in peace, as in the Latin, pace tua: by your leave; note that a phrase starting with ‘pace’ is always an aside that contradicts the rest of the sentence
e.g. Matt Damon is married to an ex-bartender; Michelle Pfeiffer is the spouse of a screenwriter: in general, Hollywood stars, pace Brad and Angelina, rarely marry other Hollywood stars
(a) paean to (something) (noun) = a eulogy about (something) (pronounced ‘pee-uhn’) from the Greek, paian: a hymn of thanksgiving to Paian, the Greek god of healing (also known by his more famous name of Apollo, god of medicine)
e.g. Obama’s inaugural speech was a paean to American optimism
(a) panegyric (on) (a subject)
(a) paladin of (a cause) (noun) = (a) defender of (a cause) (pronounced ‘pal-uh-din’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. After his death, it became clear that JFK was not the paladin of family values that he appeared to be, and had in fact been conducting numerous extra-marital affairs
‘paladin’ derives from the Middle French, ‘paladin’, meaning ‘a warrior’, itself ultimately originating from the Latin, ‘palatinus’, a ‘palace official’.
The concept of the noble fighter known as the ‘paladin’ is immortalised in the oldest surviving major work of French literature, The Song of Roland (c. 1150), (or La Chanson de Roland, as it’s known in French). In this work, a ‘paladin’ referred to each of the 12 foremost warriors who protected King Charlemagne (742–814), whose bold invasions and Christian proselytising made him the first Emperor of Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire 400 years previously. In The Song of Roland, these 12 paladins of Charlemagne’s stood for Christian valour in the King’s battle against the Saracen hordes (which we’d call ‘Arab tribes’ today).
Although King Charlemagne certainly existed, there is actually zero evidence the paladins ever did (outside of literature). Yet these fictitious fighters’ bravery lives on in the word ‘paladin’, which continues to denote a stalwart defender of a cause.
paleontologist (noun) = a hunter for prehistoric fossils (used – doubtless unfairly – as shorthand for someone uninteresting) (pronounced ‘pal-ee-uhn-tol-uh-jist’) from the Greek, palaio-: ancient + ontos: being + logos: the study (of)
e.g. His wife loved to mock him, telling him his prized collection of rare first edition Dickens novels would only be of interest to palaeontologists
(a) panegyric (on) (a subject) (noun) = a eulogy about (a subject) (pronounced ‘pan-i-jir-ik’) from the Greek, panegyrikos (logos): (a speech) given in a public assembly in honour of a god, from pan: all + agyris: place of assembly
e.g. The film Pretty Woman is really a panegyric on all-conquering love
(a) panjandrum (of) (a professional field)
(a) panjandrum (of) (a professional field) = a pompous powerful person within (a professional field) (pronounced ‘pan-jan-druhm’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Her first novel was snapped up because her father was a panjandrum of the publishing business
The story behind how the word ‘panjandrum’ came to be, is bizarre and shows just how random the business of etymology is. For ‘panjandrum’ is a word invented on the spur of the moment, for a literary contest. The contest in question was proposed in 1753 by an actor called Charles Macklin, who claimed – at a public lecture he gave in Covent Garden, London – that his memory was so vast that he could remember any text after just one reading. Hoping to catch him out, a playwright present called Samuel Foote asked the lecturer to repeat the following verse of nonsense (that Foote had composed on the spot, and proceeded to declaim):
‘So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to make an apple pie; and at the same time a great she-bear, coming up the street, pops its head into the shop. “What! No soap?” So he died, and she very imprudently married the barber; and there were present the Picninnies, and the Joblillies, and the Garyulies, and the grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at the top, and they all fell to playing the game of catch as catch can till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots.’
So irritated was Macklin by this burst of nonsense, that he refused to repeat it, and officially lost at his own challenge of memory feat. And of all the words in the paragraph above (that came out of Samuel Foote’s mouth), it’s only ‘panjandrum’ that survives today, and it continues to carry the sense of a ‘pompous powerful person’.
(a) pastiche (of) (something) (noun) = (of art) a work that is a blend of previous works; note that a ‘pastiche’ is usually a respectful homage to the works it references, whereas a ‘parody’ is a comic exaggeration of the work it evokes from the Italian, pasticcio: piecrust (which is of course made up of a blend of flour, fat, liquid and salt, all mixed together – just as surely as a ‘pastiche’ is itself a blend), ultimately from the Latin, pasta: paste
e.g. The House of Silk, a recent Sherlock Holmes novel written by Anthony Horowitz, is the first ever Holmes pastiche to be endorsed by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle estate
patrimony (noun) = heritage (pronounced ‘pa-truh-moh-nee’) from the French, patrimoine, from the Latin, patrimonium, from pater: father; often ‘patrimony’ refers specifically to property inherited from one’s father
e.g. During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities – which contains such treasures as King Tutankhamun’s Gold Mask and other vital cultural patrimony – was broken into, and two mummies reportedly destroyed
paucity (noun) = scarcity (pronounced ‘paw-si-tee’) from the Latin, paucitas: scarcity, from paucus: few
e.g. People want something light for their holiday, so airport bookshops contain a multitude of paperback thrillers, but a paucity of more serious literature
peaceable (adj.) = (of a person) promoting calm (pronounced ‘pee-suh-buhl’) from the Old French, paisible: peaceable, from pais: peace, ultimately from the Latin, pax, pacis: peace
e.g. He avoided confrontations like the plague, for he was a peaceable type
pedagogic (adj.) = relating to teaching; note that, when used of a person, the tone is derogatory, in the sense of ‘haughty like a teacher’ (pronounced ‘ped-uh-goj-ik’) from the Old French, pedagogue: teacher of children, from the Greek, paidagogos: slave who escorted children to school, from pais, paidos: child + agogos: leader
e.g. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke once taught economics at Princeton University, and critics say that when he briefs journalists nowadays about the outlook for the US economy, he continues to emit a pedagogic air
penumbra (noun) = a surrounding area (pronounced ‘pen-uhm-bruh’) from the Latin, paene: almost + umbra: shadow; a ‘penumbra’ literally means ‘the partially shaded area around the edges of a shadow, where the shade blends into light (with the gradation being almost imperceptible)’
e.g. From out of the London riots – which originally started as a protest against perceived police brutality – spread a large penumbra of opportunistic looting and violence
peon (noun) = an unskilled worker (pronounced ‘pee-uhn’) from the Spanish, peon, ultimately from the medieval Latin, pedo, pedon-: foot soldier, from the Latin, pes, ped-: foot; ‘peon’ originally referred to an unskilled Spanish-American farmworker
e.g. Astronauts aren’t exactly normal nine-to-five peons
periphrastic (adj.) = speaking in a roundabout way (pronounced ‘per-uh-fras-tik’) from the Greek, periphrazein: to declare in a roundabout way, from peri-: round about + phrazein: to express
e.g. When a politician wants to avoid answering an interviewer’s question, he becomes even more periphrastic than usual
to pernoctate (in a place) (verb) = (formal in tone) to pass the night (in a place) from the Latin, pernoctare: to spend the night, from per-: through + nox, noctis: night
e.g. It was only after she married him that she allowed herself to pernoctate in his flat
a Petri dish (for nourishing something)
perquisite (noun) = a perk (of one’s position) (pronounced ‘pur-kwuh-zit’) from the Latin, perquisitum: something gained, from perquirere: to search diligently, from per-: thoroughly + quaerere: to seek; ‘perk’ is simply the abbreviated form of ‘perquisite’
e.g. The US President enjoys numerous perquisites of office, such as regularly dining with Hollywood stars
persiflage (noun) = light teasing (pronounced ‘pur-suh-flarge’) from the French, persifler: to banter, originally from siffler: to whistle, itself deriving from the Latin, sibilare: to hiss
e.g. Usually it is a spirit of persiflage that dominates TV debates between politicians, but sometimes this can spill over into angry shouting matches
pertinacious (adj.) = very obstinate (pronounced ‘pur-tin-ey-shuhs) from the Latin, pertinax, pertinaci-: holding fast
e.g. She felt zero attraction towards him, but he was such a pertinacious suitor that eventually she gave in to his requests for a date
a Petri dish (for nourishing something) (set phrase) = a breeding ground (for nourishing something) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Numerous cases of cocaine addiction amongst bankers have shown that a life of stress is the perfect Petri dish for nourishing drug addiction
A ‘Petri dish’ is a shallow glass dish – with a loose-fitting cover – that scientists use as a breeding ground for bacteria (thus making it possible for them to identify those bacteria that are responsible for disease).
It is named after its inventor, German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri (1852–1922). Today the term ‘Petri dish’ is used metaphorically to describe any breeding ground.
pheromones (pl. noun) = vibes; literally meaning ‘chemicals released into the environment by an animal, affecting the behaviour of other animals’ (pronounced ‘fer-uh-mohns’) from the Greek, pherein: to carry + the English word hormone, from the Greek, hormon, present participle of horman: to set in motion (the word ‘pheronome’ was invented in 1959)
e.g. People who are already in a relationship are much more attractive to others, for there is no bigger aphrodisiac than giving out spoken-for pheromones
philippic (against something) (noun) = a tirade (against something) (pronounced ‘fi-lip-ik’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. The journalist penned a philippic against her cheating husband that was published nationwide the next day
The word ‘philippic’ originated with Demosthenes (384–322 BC), a Greek orator who – from his base in Athens – delivered several verbal attacks on Philip II of Macedon. At the time of Demosthenes’ attack, Macedon was just a small, relatively unthreatening-looking kingdom situated on the Greek peninsula; but Demosthenes correctly sensed that Philip II of Macedon was about to hugely expand his kingdom via acts of aggression that would threaten Athens.
So Demosthenes urged his fellow Greeks to unite and fight against King Philip, to neutralise this threat while it was still possible to do so. These series of speeches against Philip were known as the ‘philippics’. But Demosthenes failed to sufficiently galvanise his audience, who did not heed his warnings; and eventually Philip’s son Alexander the Great – confirming Demosthenes’ hunch – became one of the greatest conquerors of all time, sweeping away all before him (including Demosthenes’ complacent audience). As for Demosthenes himself, he was hunted down by Alexander’s men and ended up committing suicide in order to evade capture.
Demosthenes’ speeches – which were a failure (in the sense that the audience was not roused into action) – have nevertheless become immortalised in our language as meaning a ‘tirade’.
(a) piety (noun) = a platitude (pronounced ‘pahy-i-tee’) from the Old French, piete, from the Latin, pietas: dutiful conduct
e.g. When an actor wins an Oscar, his acceptance speech usually includes a ‘thank you’ to his parents for being so supportive, and other such pieties
pinguid (adj.) = fat, oily (pronounced ‘ping-wid’) from the Latin, pinguis: fat
e.g. If a pinguid man is forced to take the stairs rather than a lift, much wheezing will result
plebiscite (noun) = a referendum (pronounced ‘pleb-uh-sit’) from the Latin, plebiscitum: a decree of the people, from plebs, pleb-: the common people + scitum: decree, from sciscere: to vote for
e.g. In the aftermath of World War I, a number of plebiscites were held, to decide on geographical boundaries within Europe
plenary (adj.) = (of a big meeting) fully attended by all committee members (pronounced ‘plen-uh-ree’) from the late Latin, plenarius: complete, from plenus: full
e.g. If Russia threatened to bomb the United Kingdom, doubtless the Prime Minister would call a plenary session of the cabinet
plenipotentiary (noun) = a diplomat fully authorised to represent his government (pronounced ‘plen-uh-puh-ten-shuh-ree’) from the Medieval Latin, plenipotentiarius: having full power, from plenus: full + potentem: powerful
e.g. When international rock stars visit London, they tend to hire entire floors of luxury hotels: it is as if some plenipotentiary has come to town
pleonastic (adj.) = (of a person) using too many words (pronounced ‘play-uh-nas-tic’) from the Greek, pleonazein: to be superfluous
e.g. An expression like ‘very unique’ is pleonastic, for you can easily drop the ‘very’ altogether
pliant (adj.) = compliant (pronounced ‘plahy-uhnt’) from the Old French, pliant: bending, the present participle of plier: to bend; from here, the figurative sense of ‘easily influenced, compliant’ developed
e.g. In the film Black Swan, Natalie Portman plays a young ballerina, who is initially a pliant daughter, but who soon becomes impossible to control
plosive (noun) = a sound produced when saying out loud a consonant – either d, b, g, t, k, or p – that requires stopping the airflow at some point, then suddenly releasing it, such as the sound ‘d’ in ‘dog’ (pronounced ‘ploh-siv’) plosive is a shortened version of the word explosive
e.g. ‘Tulip’, with its ‘t’ and ‘p’, is a plosive-heavy word
pogrom (noun) = the government-organised massacre of one ethnic group, often the Jews (pronounced ‘poh-gruhm’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. When President Obama nominated two liberal law professors to senior posts, critics said this constituted a pogrom against Christians. But these critics were, in their turn, lambasted for using the word ‘pogrom’ too lightly
‘pogrom’ is the Russian word for ‘devastation’, originally deriving from ‘po’: ‘through’ and ‘gromu’: ‘thunder’; it is fitting that the word is Russian in origin, for the first pogrom was in Russia, with the Jews being the ethnic group targeted.
More specifically, the first such massacre to be labelled a pogrom took place in 1881–84, and involved the killing of Jews and the destruction of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues; all of this was allegedly condoned by Russian law enforcement. The trigger for these assaults was the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, which many blamed on ‘the Jews’. (But in actual fact, none of the bombers was Jewish and their only vague semitic link was that a close associate of theirs was a Jewish woman.) Following these atrocities, many other pogroms against Jews took place in Russia; but of course the most horrendous examples occurred in Nazi Germany.
‘pogrom’ can also refer to the extermination of non-Jews; for example, since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraqi Christians – which make up just 5 per cent of the total population – have experienced many massacres (often referred to as ‘pogroms’) at the hands of their compatriots.
Today the term ‘pogrom’ is applied to any such genocide and it remains a highly emotive word, recalling as it does so many prior killings in history. So charged is the term that people frequently object when it is used, complaining that it’s being employed too lightly, and should be reserved only to describe awful massacres involving a huge loss of life.
poltroon (noun) = a total coward (pronounced ‘pol-troon’) from the Medieval French, poultron: a coward, ultimately from the Italian, poltrone: coward, idler; from poltro: bed
e.g. Hit-and-run drivers are the worst kind of poltroon
Pooh-bah (noun) = a pompous official who holds many fatuous titles for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Whenever the stockmarket plunges, there’s usually a gathering of international Pooh-bahs who hold a conference to try and shore up investors’ confidence
‘Pooh-bah’ was the title of a character in The Mikado (1885). In this comic opera – set far away from Britain, in Japan, so as to allow Gilbert and Sullivan more freedom to satirise British politics – ‘Pooh-bah’ holds many preposterous titles, including ‘First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral…Archbishop of Titipu, Lord Mayor, and Lord High Everything Else’.
The name ‘Pooh-bah’ is thus now used as a mocking title for someone – often a politician – who is self-important and who holds many irrelevant titles.
postmodernist (adj.) = (of an artwork) reflecting the artist’s belief that there is no such thing as progress, and that pessimism is the appropriate response to life (often shown via apocalyptic imagery) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. On their date in the art gallery, he nodded sagely when she described the paintings as ‘post-modernist’; but he in fact had no idea what she was talking about, and, after spending an hour that evening researching the term, was still none the wiser
‘postmodernism’, a movement which has dominated the intellectual scene since the 1960s, is a reaction against the prior movement of ‘modernism’ – so, to understand ‘postmodernism’, it’s essential to understand ‘modernism’.
So, looking firstly at ‘modernism’: this was a movement lasting from around 1800 to 1960, and was marked by a loss of faith in all previously held certainties. In particular, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1852), as well as the horror of World War I (1914–18), led, for many, to the loss of religious belief, and consequently artists lost belief also in other ‘traditions’, such as the previously held role of art (which was to accurately depict reality). In its stead, ‘modernism’ substituted self-consciousness of artistic expression, leading to experiments with form and presentation – but to a total indifference towards content and meaning. Modernists regarded this innovation – this emphasis on form over content – as progress.
As a reaction against ‘modernism’ (and its belief in progress, via the emphasis of form over content), ‘postmodernism’ holds that there is in fact no progress: modern society is not improving, nor is it superior to previous societies (no matter how much you play with form in the way the modernists did). Hence ‘postmodernist’ art often involves apocalyptic imagery and pessimism about life. Unfortunately part of this pessimism has spilt over into a loss of belief in the ability to define anything at all, including ‘postmodernism’ itself. In fact, in many ways, if you’re so crass as to attempt to define ‘postmodernism’, then you ‘just don’t get it’. Understandably, as a result of all this, many have concluded the term ‘postmodernist’ is without meaning.
posthaste (adv.) = with great speed (pronounced ‘pohst-heyst’) from the command, ‘haste, post, haste’, written on letters around 1530, to speed them on their way
e.g. When she found out her sister was ill, she returned posthaste to England
to potentiate (an effect) (verb) = to enhance (an effect) (pronounced ‘puh-ten-shee-eight’) from the Latin, potentia: power
e.g. Many writers find that coffee potentiates the creative juices
predation (noun) = the act of plundering (pronounced ‘pre-dey-shuhn’) from the Latin, praedatio-: the taking of booty, from the verb, praedari: to seize as plunder, from praeda: booty
e.g. The Arab Spring began when thousands of people demonstrated against predation by state officials
preferment (noun) = promotion (pronounced ‘pri-fur-muhnt’) from the English words, prefer- + ment
e.g. After he spat in his boss’s face, his chances of preferment collapsed
primacy (noun) = dominance (pronounced ‘pry-muh-see’) from the Latin, primatia: primacy, from the Latin, primas, primat-: of the first rank
e.g. Over the past decade, the primacy of Roger Federer in the world of tennis is clear
privations (pl. noun) = the lack of the usual comforts of life (often owing to poverty) (pronounced ‘pry-vey-shuhns’) from the Latin, privatio: deprivation, from the Latin, privare: to deprive
e.g. People on the poverty line regularly suffer from hunger and other privations
probity (noun) = uprightness (pronounced ‘pro-bi-tee’) from the Latin, probitas: goodness, from probus: good
e.g. He was praised for his probity in coming forward and reporting his colleague for embezzling
(a) profusion (of) (something) (noun) = (a) large amount (of something) (pronounced ‘pruh-fyoo-zhuhn’) from the Latin, profusio: a pouring out, from the Latin, profundere: to pour out
e.g. In spring, there is a profusion of colour as the trees blossom
prole (noun) = a member of the working class (pronounced ‘prohl’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Whereas a few decades ago, people in Britain would try to sound like an aristocrat to get ahead in the world, nowadays, in today’s egalitarian society, they try to sound like a prole to achieve the same goal
The word ‘prole’ is an abbreviation of ‘proletariat’, which derives from the Latin, ‘proletarius’: ‘member of the lowest class’, itself based on ‘proles’: ‘offspring’ (because the Romans used the term ‘proles’ to denote a person who had no wealth in property, and who consequently paid no taxes, and therefore only really served the state by producing offspring).
Promethean (adj.) = defiantly original (pronounced ‘pro-mee-thee-uhn’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. In 1996, investors in Apple rejoiced when – after an 11-year absence from the company – Steve Jobs, the irascible genius with the Promethean touch, returned
‘Promethean’ derives from the story of Prometheus, a highly intelligent – but controversial – god from Greek mythology.
It was Prometheus who had the gall to steal fire from under the nose of the king of the gods, Zeus himself, and share it with mankind. His method was defiantly original: Prometheus hid the fire away in the thick stalk of a giant fennel plant and made off with it. (Irked by this, Zeus punished mankind by sending the first woman, Pandora, to earth; the Greek poet Hesiod, writing in the 8th century BC, commented on her arrival thus, ‘…of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helper in hateful poverty, but only in wealth’, before proceeding in similar progressive tones.)
Zeus eventually caught up with Prometheus and, by way of revenge, chained Prometheus to a rock; then an eagle would come by each day, and eat out his liver. Overnight the liver would grow back, and the eagle would fly back the next morning, to start the process of torture afresh. Today, the defiant originality of Prometheus – specifically, the ingenious way in which he stole fire from Zeus – is recalled when we call a great innovator like Steve Jobs ‘Promethean’.
to propitiate (someone) (verb) = to appease (someone) (pronounced ‘pro-pish-ee-eight’) from the Latin, propitiare: to make favourable, from propitius: favourable
e.g. Even though he didn’t find his boss’s jokes funny, he made a point of laughing at them – purely so as to propitiate his senior ahead of bonus day
propinquity (noun) = the state of being near (to someone or something) (pronounced ‘pro-ping-kwi-tee’) from the Latin, propinquitas: propinquity, from propinque: near, from prope: near to
e.g. She opened her eyes after her nap and sensed her husband’s propinquity
to proscribe (verb) = to forbid from the Latin, proscribere: to publish in writing (literally: ‘to write in front of’, from pro-: in front of + scribere: to write); in time, this included the sense of ‘to publish in writing the name of someone who is an outlaw (i.e. who has been forbidden)’
e.g. Condoms are proscribed by the Catholic church
provenance (noun) = the source (pronounced ‘prov-uh-nuhns’) from the Latin, provenire: to come forth, from pro-: forth + venire: to come
e.g. He asked to see the wine’s label, and, after scanning the writing on it, expressed admiration at its St Julien provenance
pudenda (pl. noun) = a woman’s external genital organs (pronounced ‘pyoo-den-da’) from the Latin, pudenda (membra): (parts) to be ashamed of, from pudere: to be ashamed
e.g. A certain kind of starlet – when getting out of a car – seems to get a kick from flashing her pudenda at the paparazzi
pudeur (noun) = embarrassment about sex (pronounced ‘poo-der’) from the French, pudeur: modesty
e.g. She went into Stringfellows nightclub with the other traders; but then, as more and more G-string-clad women approached her, she was overcome by pudeur and fled
pulchritude (noun) = beauty (pronounced ‘puhl-kri-tyood’) from the Latin, pulchritudo: beauty, from pulcher, pulchr-: beautiful
e.g. The rarely sighted offspring of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will surely turn out to be models of pulchritude
purulent (adj.) = unsightly (literally meaning, ‘discharging pus’) (pronounced ‘pyoor-uh-luhnt’) from the Latin, purulentus: festering, from pus, pur-: pus
e.g. Critics say Australia is no more than a collection of drive-ins, shopping arcades and purulent amusement parks
putative (adj.) = reputed (pronounced ‘pyoo-tuh-tiv’) from the Latin, putat-: thought, from putare: to think
e.g. In public, the politician claimed to have no party leadership aspirations; but privately he enjoyed the fact that he was the putative front-runner
(a) pyrrhic victory (set phrase) = a victory won at too great a cost to have been worth it for the victor (‘pyrrhic’ is pronounced ‘pir-ik’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Killjoys said that London’s winning of the mandate to host the 2012 Olympics was a pyrrhic victory, for the games cost billions of pounds at a time when the government could ill afford it
The phrase ‘pyrrhic victory’ derives from Pyrrhus (319–272 BC), a Greek general with a noted fondness for war elephants, who defeated the Roman army in a series of battles, but lost so many of his own troops in the process that it was hardly worth it.
In particular, when Pyrrhus invaded Apulia (in 279 BC) in ‘the heel’ of Italy, he sustained very heavy losses indeed – even though he won the battle overall. In total, Pyrrhus lost 3,500 men: almost as many as the Romans, who sustained 6,000 casualties. (In fact, so depleted were Pyrrhus’s troops as a result, that Pyrrhus failed to capture the region’s key city, Asculum, from the Romans.) It was this battle in Apulia that inspired the term ‘pyrrhic victory’, meaning a victory which comes at such a crippling cost that the victory is not in fact worth it.
Pyrrhus’s death was particularly ignominious: in the course of a different battle – this time amidst the narrow streets of the Greek city of Argos – an old woman watching from a rooftop threw a tile onto Pyrrhus’s head, stunning him. An enemy soldier then took his opportunity, and beheaded the discombobulated Pyrrhus.