word of the day :: popinjay

popinjay:

[pop-in-jey]

–noun

1.  a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect: a woodpecker, esp. the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic: the figure of a parrot, usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic: a parrot.

  

Origin:

1275–1325;  ME papejay, popingay, papinjai ( e ) < MF papegai, papingay  parrot < Sp papagayo  < Ar bab ( ba ) ghā'

"A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl. "

:: Ernest Hemingway ::

* Definition from www.dictionary.com