"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Saturday, 9 May 2009

Pyrrhic


Pyrrhic (pronounced PiR-ic) is an adjective used to refer to a victory that is achieved at great cost. The phrase is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War. Pyrrhus is the the subject of one of Plutarch's Parallel Lives.

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