smellfungus

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English

Etymology

From Smelfungus, name of a hypercritical traveller in A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy,[1] a satirical characterization of Tobias Smollett and his Travels Through France and Italy (1766). Apparently from smell +‎ fungus.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)
  • IPA(key): /ˈsmɛlˌfʌŋɡəs/

Noun

smellfungus (plural smellfunguses or smellfungi)

  1. (archaic) A faultfinder, complainer, grumbler.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:complainer
    • 1834, Mary Boddington, Slight reminiscences of the Rhine, Switzerland, and a corner of Italy, volume I, page 81:
      But this want of a softening medium, and consequently, of aerial perspective, is not the defect of the Rhine scenery in particular, but of river views in general. And then it is so rich in equivalents—so strong in picture; a true Smellfungus would exclaim, “Yes; but the pictures are all alike.”
    • 1847, “Journal of a few Months' Residence in Portugal, and Glimpses of the South of Spain”, in Quarterly Review, volume LXXXI, number CLXI, page 88:
      Nor is she a smellfungus searching for weeds where roses grow, or setting down everything a wilderness from Braga to Barcelona.

References

  1. ^ Laurence Sterne (1768) A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy‎: “I met Smelfungus in the grand portico of the Pantheon:—he was just coming out of it.—’Tis nothing but a huge cockpit, said he […]”

Further reading

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