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zyzzyva (ZIZ-uh-vuh) - n., any of several tropical American weevils (genus Zyzzyva).
The name was coined in 1922 by the coleopterist, Thomas Casey, who first published a scientific description of them. There are no roots in either Greek or Latin that remotely resemble zyzzyva, so the speculation is that he created it specifically so it would be at the end of the dictionary, or at least at the end of lists of beetles. Because of this, it is also sometimes used to mean the last word in a debate or argument, and sometimes (rarely) even as a verb, to get the last word in.
And now that I've typed that out, I have mixed feelings about amplifying Casey's infamy. (Have I become part of the problem?)
---L.
The name was coined in 1922 by the coleopterist, Thomas Casey, who first published a scientific description of them. There are no roots in either Greek or Latin that remotely resemble zyzzyva, so the speculation is that he created it specifically so it would be at the end of the dictionary, or at least at the end of lists of beetles. Because of this, it is also sometimes used to mean the last word in a debate or argument, and sometimes (rarely) even as a verb, to get the last word in.
And now that I've typed that out, I have mixed feelings about amplifying Casey's infamy. (Have I become part of the problem?)
---L.
