# What do you think of when you hear this word?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073>\
**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:** 6\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/61 "2009-07-16T07:15:53Z")

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I didn’t look it up. I have always thought that fey was shy and retiring. Very “weak” personality if you like. Not explicitly homosexual or effeminate - but appearing that way.

To me I was thinking Michael Jackson before anyone else brought up the name, and think that Edward Scissorhands also fits.

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**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/62 "2009-07-16T13:54:57Z")

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I am with bengangmo- I immediately thought of shy and retiring.

Never thought of Jackson though.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/63 "2009-07-16T15:15:39Z")

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Crazed, mad, tetched in the head.

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**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/64 "2009-07-16T15:41:18Z")

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Wild, mysterious, inscrutable, capricious, maybe otherworldly.

I had occasion to use it a while ago, actually. I was talking about Patrick Rothfuss’s _The Name Of The Wind_, and “fey” was the best adjective I could think of to describe Denna.

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/65 "2009-07-16T16:35:25Z")

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> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> Crazed, mad, tetched in the head.

Mad, bad, and dangerous to know!

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**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/66 "2009-07-16T18:43:41Z")

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> [@Indistinguishable](#):
>
> _Without_ looking at a dictionary, what comes to mind when you hear the adjective “fey” (e.g., as a description of a person)?

Without looking at anything else, including the rest of the thread…

In my head, fey would be strange/wild with a tint of otherworldly/eldritch. Maybe some sense of impending doom? Connotative of faeries (not the cute little Tinkerbell kind). May suggest gay, but not necessarily.

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