Pronounced: ROY-uhl road, noun
Notes: I’ve not run across this phrase
Yesterday’s word
The word jackanapes is
- an impudent or conceited fellow
- a saucy or mischievous child
- monkey; ape
First usage
Our word came into English in the first half of the 1400s
Background / Comments
When I run across our word, I saw it used in the second definition above. Our word came from an unflattering nickname for William de la Pole, the Duke of Suffolk. While he was Duke, England lost its possessions in the north of France. He became unpopular and was nicknamed “Jack Napis” because his coat of arms contained an image of a collar and chain that was commonly used to least pet monkeys, which were known as jackanapes. After the nickname was assigned, the first definition came about, and, finally, the second definition.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 