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Kinch is the nickname of Stephen Dedalus, James Joyce's literary alter ego in Ulysses. But where does it come from? Some commentators suggest it is the sound of a knife penetrating flesh. But is this believable? Maybe penetrating a lung? The "ch" involves a quick, strong expiration of air through a narrow gap.
Help, Google...
Kinch - Scottish for a noose in a rope. (Merriam-Webster)
Kinch - A slip-knot; figuratively, a hold; an advantage. To twist a cord about, as about the tongue or nose of a horse.
Kinching - refers to child pickpockets Ca. 1800. (Urban Dictionary).
Kinch - The act of freaking-out, becoming anxious, and/or panicking about something or someone (Urban Dictionary).
Kinch is the nickname of Stephen Dedalus, James Joyce's literary alter ego in Ulysses. But where does it come from? Some commentators suggest it is the sound of a knife penetrating flesh. But is this believable? Maybe penetrating a lung? The "ch" involves a quick, strong expiration of air through a narrow gap.
Help, Google...
Kinch - Scottish for a noose in a rope. (Merriam-Webster)
Kinch - A slip-knot; figuratively, a hold; an advantage. To twist a cord about, as about the tongue or nose of a horse.
Kinching - refers to child pickpockets Ca. 1800. (Urban Dictionary).
Kinch - The act of freaking-out, becoming anxious, and/or panicking about something or someone (Urban Dictionary).
In the novel Mulligan states that he is the source of nickname of 'Kinch' for Stephen Dedalus: “my name for you is the best: Kinch, the knife-blade.”
Richard Ellmann states that Oliver Gogarty gave this name to Joyce and remarks that this was because it imitated “the cutting sound of a knife”.
The fact that Mulligan associates the name with a knife blade in Ulysses suggests that this explanation has some merit.
"I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square."
Lady Bracknell The importance of Being Earnest
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