Word of the Day: MUMPSIMUS
Pronunciation: UK: /ˈmʌmp.sɪ.məs/ or US: /ˈmʌmp.sə.məs/

Meaning:

A mumpsimus is a person who stubbornly sticks to an old custom, idea, or word choice even after it has been proven wrong. By extension, it can also refer to the incorrect custom, expression, or error itself that the person refuses to correct.

Example for daily usage:

  1. "Even after showing him the updated grammar rule from three separate style guides, he remained an absolute mumpsimus, insisting his way was right."
  2. "Continuing to spell 'definitely' with an 'a' after being corrected a dozen times is a classic mumpsimus."

Origin and history:

The origin of this word is one of the most famous literary anecdotes in Tudor England. It comes from a story popularized by the Dutch humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus in his 1515 work Spongia adversus aspersiones Hutteni, and later retold in English by Richard Pace in 1517.

According to the story, an illiterate old priest was reciting the Latin Mass for thirty years and repeatedly misread the phrase quod in os sumpsimus ("which we have taken into our mouth") as quod in os mumpsimus (which means nothing in Latin). When a younger, educated cleric finally pointed out the mistake and told him that mumpsimus was not a real word, the old priest famously replied: "I will not change my old mumpsimus for your new sumpsimus!"

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Cultural significance and modern usage:

King Henry VIII famously brought the word into official British political language during a speech to Parliament in 1545. He urged his subjects to find common religious ground, warning them against being divided into either "blind mumpsimus" (those holding onto outdated traditions out of ignorance) or "too-much-trusting sumpsimus" (those overly eager for novelty). Today, it serves as a delightfully obscure term for stubborn traditionalists or uncorrectable linguistic habits.

Interesting facts:

The Counter-Word: Because of this tale, the word sumpsimus was coined to mean the exact opposite: a person who insists on strict accuracy and correctness in language or custom.

Early Meme Culture: The story of the mumpsimus priest became the 16th-century equivalent of a viral meme, widely cited by Protestant reformers to mock conservative Catholic clergy who resisted the translation of the Bible into English.

Examples from literature:

  • "Some there be that will hold fast to their old mumpsimus, though the light of truth shine never so brightly before their eyes." — William Tyndale, An Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue (1531).
  • "We must beware that we do not substitute a new error for an old one, exchanging one man's sumpsimus for another's mumpsimus." — Hugh Latimer, Sermons (1549).
  • "He clung to his archaic theories of medicine with the devotion of a mumpsimus, ignoring every modern discovery of the laboratory." — Twentieth-century essay on scientific history.
  • "The politician's speech was a masterpiece of mumpsimus, repeating slogans that had been disproved by economists a decade prior." — Modern political journalism.

Synonyms:

  • Traditionalist
  • Obstinate error
  • Dogmatist
  • Reactionary

Antonyms:

  • Sumpsimus
  • Reformer
  • Progressive
  • Perfectionist

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