View Full Version : Dr. Bellows word choice


Little_stinker
10-25-2019, 04:11 PM
IIRC, Dr. Bellows called Tony Nelson "twitterpated".

The only other time that I recall hearing that word used was in the Disney movie, Mary Poppins.
Has that word been used other places?

kentauros
11-08-2019, 03:15 PM
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it originated in Disney's "Bambi":

twitterpated (adj.) (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=twitterpated)
1942, apparently first attested in the Walt Disney movie "Bambi" (there also was a song by that name but it was not in the studio release of the film), a past-participle adjective formed from twitter (https://www.etymonline.com/word/twitter) in the "tremulous excitement" noun sense (1670s) + pate (https://www.etymonline.com/word/pate) (n.2) "head" (compare flutterpated, 1894).

Thumper: Why are they acting that way?
Friend Owl: Why, don't you know? They're twitterpated.
Flower, Bambi, Thumper: Twitterpated?
Friend Owl: Yes. Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example: You're walking along, minding your own business. You're looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-woo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you're walking on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!
Thumper: Gosh, that's awful.

I don't remember Dr. Bellows using it, and don't know of anyone else using it. I'd say it's likely too obscure to see it show up anywhere else. Maybe Sidney Sheldon had recently seen "Bambi" (Disney used to cycle their animated films through 7-year periods of re-releasing them to the theaters back then) and liked the word.

Schmoopie
11-09-2019, 01:42 AM
I think I remember that as well. It's most commonly associated with Bambi but I vaguely remember hearing it somewhere else not that long ago. Maye it was IDOJ but I know it was an older show.

Daisy2000
03-15-2021, 03:55 AM
I find the husband's friend the funniest on the show. The husband sometimes seems ridiculous. Many shows have copied the humor on this show it seems.
E mail me to discuss show eve0715@aol.com