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Today's Word "Pyrrhic"

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pyrrhic \PIR-ik\ (adjective) - Used in the phrase "Pyrrhic victory," meaning a victory with losses or costs so great, it's no victory at all.

"Besting Livia in the state salad-making finals turned into a Pyrrhic victory for Umberto when Livia returned the engagement ring to him the following day."

 

The eponym of today's word is Pyrrhus (318-272 BC), a Greek king of Epirus who fought the Roman Empire. Twice, he defeated the Romans, at Heraclea (280) and Asculum (279), but suffered such loses that he is quoted after the second battle in Plutarch's 'Lives' as saying, "One more victory like this will be the end of me." Legend has it that Pyrrhus also invented the pyrrhic dance, hence its name. Perhaps he would have sustained fewer losses had he focused more on the battlefield and less on the dance floor.


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