Charles Dickens died on this day in 1870.
He gave his name to idioms in this vein -- A "dickens" of a time, the "dickens" you say, what the "dickens," et al.
Dickens also created many characters whose names have entered the lexicon, or instantly suggest an image of a certain type of person -- Scrooge, Uriah Heep, Micawber, Pickwick, Fagin.
Some characters, only Dickens could have named: Sweedlepipe, Honeythunder, Bumble, Pumblechook, M'Choakumchild, Podsnap, Gradgrind.
The word Dickensian, of course, conjures up a whole slew of images.
One scientist of onomastics (the study of names) has declared that Dickens created 989 distinct characters, which inspires us to coin a word of our own to describe this fastidious scholar:
Onomastochist.
For more about Dickens, visit Farewells, June 9
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