simon-pure

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The Word of the Day for September 16 is: 

simon-pure   \sye-mun-PYUR\   adjective
     : of untainted purity or integrity; also : pretentiously or hypocritically 
pure 

Example sentence:
     Alfred is a simon-pure Republican, rocked in his cradle to the stirring 
rhythms of G.O.P. speeches, grown to a man sure to vote the party line.

Did you know?
     British dramatist and actress Susannah Centlivre (1669-1723) introduced 
the character of Simon Pure in her 1718 comedy _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_. In 
that play, Colonel Fainall wants to marry Anne Lovely, but to do so he must win 
the consent of Anne's guardian, a Quaker gentleman named Obadiah Prim. Fainall 
tries to gain the needed approval by impersonating a Quaker preacher named 
Simon Pure. Unfortunately for the scheme, the real Simon Pure appears and 
proves himself to be the genuine article. People adopted the phrase "the real 
Simon Pure" (which in turn gave rise to the adjective "simon-pure") from the 
play to refer to things true or genuine.