# What do you think of when you hear this word? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 15, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073 "2009-07-15T02:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/1 "2009-07-15T02:01:22Z")
_Without_ looking at a dictionary, what comes to mind when you hear the adjective “fey” (e.g., as a description of a person)? [The reason for my curiosity and thus the poll will be revealed later] ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/2 "2009-07-15T02:03:15Z")
Nothing, as I’ve never heard a person described that way. ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/3 "2009-07-15T02:09:00Z")
like a fairy (as in the imaginary creature, not a homosexual) - delicate, ethereal edit: oops. missed the describing-a-person bit. in that case - emasculated/feminine, actually I associate it with homosexual slurs. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/4 "2009-07-15T02:09:59Z")
Unusually keyed up and optimistic, with a heightened sense of expectation of something dramatic about to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/5 "2009-07-15T02:12:05Z")
Giddy and otherworldly. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/6 "2009-07-15T02:16:04Z")
A bit ditzy and not-of-this world…a tad bit “off”. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/7 "2009-07-15T02:18:52Z")
Ditzy, in a precious sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/8 "2009-07-15T02:22:54Z")
Elvish, frolicsome, effeminate. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/9 "2009-07-15T02:25:53Z")
Effeminate if it’s a guy, Tina if female. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/10 "2009-07-15T02:35:47Z")
Fairy like was the first thing that came to mind for me. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/11 "2009-07-15T02:38:58Z")
I picture it as a word that’s hard to picture, because it’s used in so many different senses. So I imagine someone who’s all of these at once: strange, effeminate, elvish, and psychologically possessed in a fateful way, all at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/12 "2009-07-15T02:41:08Z")
Uh…someone who vaguely resembles Tina Fey. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/13 "2009-07-15T03:04:56Z")
Kind of out-there mentally. Somewhere between Cassandra and Reverend Jim. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/14 "2009-07-15T03:05:29Z")
Strangely bleak, somber, under some foreboding of doom or fate. The usage that immediately came to my mind was from _The Lord of the Rings_, when Eowyn used that word to describe Aragorn’s mood before he departed for the Dimholt from the encampment of the Rohirrim at Dunharrow. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/15 "2009-07-15T03:45:32Z")
Sadly, my first thought was also Tina. My second thought was spacey, scatterbrained. \ ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/16 "2009-07-15T03:50:35Z")
Either one of the Fair Folk, or someone setting out on an endeavour believing he’ll die. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/17 "2009-07-15T03:50:46Z")
Impish. 😃 Perhaps with a slightly more malicious connotation than impish, though. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/18 "2009-07-15T04:03:32Z")
Effeminate. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/19 "2009-07-15T04:09:46Z")
I must be thinking of _Lord of the Rings_, as well. Someone who just might be able to see a part of the Other Side, and doesn’t like it much. Well, no, it doesn’t usually come up in daily conversation. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/20 "2009-07-15T04:41:00Z")
I assume they mean effeminate, but think “fey” sounds smarter. Almost as smart as “effete”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073.md?page=2)