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character who is supposedly off to war with sword and buckler but in fact is more interested in impressing the ladies

I.e. a swashbuckler.

Swashbuckler is a term that came about in the 16th century and was applied to rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen. It came about due to the popularity of the fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was filled with much "swashing and making a noise on the buckler" (see dictionary.com reference, below)


Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 09:27:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]
"Rough noisy and boastful" = standard-brutish "miles gloriosus" type - whereas Scaramella reveals an innate trace of caramel.  

Later on (18th cent.) - "caramella" came to mean lorgnette:  

Which gives us Scaramella the quintessentially phony "miles gloriosus" conman-spy... who'd run a mile from a real battle, vastly prefers snooping around in fine kid boots and lace ruffles, especially at gala evenings where he can oogle the ladies through his eyeglass/spyglass?

"Ignoring moralities is always undesirable, but doing so systematically is really worrisome." Mohammed Khatami

by eternalcityblues (parvati_roma aaaat libero.it) on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 09:53:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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