scaramouch

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The Word of the Day for August 7 is:

scaramouch   \skair-uh-MOOSH\   noun
     1 capitalized : a stock character in the Italian commedia dell'arte that 
burlesques the Spanish don and is characterized by boastfulness and cowardliness
     2 a : a cowardly buffoon  *b : rascal, scamp 

Example sentence:
     My great uncle was an untrustworthy old scaramouch.

Did you know?  
     In the commedia dell'arte, Scaramouch was a stock character who was 
constantly being cudgeled by Harlequin, which may explain why his name is based 
on an Italian word meaning "skirmish," or "a minor fight." The character was 
made popular in England during the late 1600s by the clever acting of Tiberio 
Fiurelli. During that time, the name "Scaramouch" also gained notoriety as a 
derogatory word for "a cowardly buffoon" or "rascal." Today not many people use 
the word (which can also be spelled "scaramouche"), but you will encounter it 
while listening to Queen's ubiquitous rock song "Bohemian Rhapsody," in the 
lyric "I see a little silhouetto of a man / Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you 
do the fandango?" 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 



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