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;void(0)) . . . MISTAKEN IDENTITY see: "APPEARANCE" see: "MISTAKES" for other related links - Costumes can only lead to confusion. Robert Benchley, leaving the "21" Club one night, saw a man adorned with gold braid, assumed he was the doorman and instructed him to call a cab. The man starchily replied, 'I am an admiral.' 'In that case,' said Benchley, 'call me a battleship.' --Excerpt from a 1998 article in "FYI" by Christopher Buckley (b. 1952) American political satirist. - ^ I [David Brinkley] was in a railroad station and a nice, gray-haired lady came over to me and said, 'Aren't you Chet Huntley?' I said yes, partly because it didn't make any difference. We were like twins, almost. And she said, 'I think you were very good, but I cannot stand that idiot, Brinkley.' --David Brinkley (1920—2003) American television newscaster. In Brian Lamb _Booknotes: Stories From American History_ [2001]. ^ In a drawing room in London a guest approached Joseph Choate, who was in the conventional dress of an English waiter, and said, 'Call me a cab.' 'All right,' said Mr. Choate, 'if you wish it. You're a cab.' ^ Franz Joseph (1830—1916), Emperor of Austria [1848—1916]. The emperor was basically a simple man. On one occasion he and two companions were out hunting near Bad Ischl in Austria, dressed in hunting clothes. A passing peasant stopped his cart to offer them a lift. As they were some way from the lodge, they accepted and soon fell into conversation with their benefactor. The peasant asked one his passengers who he was. 'The king of Saxony,' was the supercilious reply. The peasant nodded and asked the next man the same question. 'The king of Bavaria,' said the second passenger. 'And you?' said the peasant, indicating Francis Joseph, 'I suppose you are the emperor of Austria?' --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ ^ On a train journey in the American Midwest, Schweitzer was approached by two ladies. "Have we the honor of speaking to Professor Einstein?" they asked. "No, unfortunately not," replied Schweitzer, "though I can quite understand your mistake, for he has the same kind of hair as I have." He paused to rumple his hair. "But inside, my head is altogether different. However, he is a very old friend of mine — would you like me to give you his autograph?" Taking a slip of paper from his pocket he wrote: "Albert Einstein, by way of his friend, Albert Schweitzer." --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000] ^ At the London airport a few years ago I was interviewed for 10 minutes before I discoved the interviewer thought I was Tallulah Bankhead. And Miss Bankhead had already been dead for three months — if you can believe the "New York Times." --Gloria Swanson [Gloria May Josephine Svensson] (1897—1983) American motion-picture, stage and television actress. Quoted in "American Way" magazine [June 1973]. ^ Paul Verlaine (1844—1896) French poet. Poet and painter F.A. Cazals, a friend of Verlaine, arranged to meet the poet at a café, but was unavoidably late. When he finally did arrive, he was a trifle nervous, for Verlaine drunk was unpredictable. A mutual friend met Cazals at the door and warned him that Verlaine, hopelessly drunk, was 'furious with you.' Cazals entered to find Verlaine surrounded by his acolytes, but a little less drunk than he had been described. Cazals took courage: 'I hear that you were abusing me just a few minutes ago.' 'Who told you that?' cried the furious Verlaine. 'Somebody you don't know,' replied Cazals prudently. 'Somebody I don't know!' exclaimed Verlaine. He began to weave his way through the crowded café. 'I'm going outside, and the first passerby I don't know, I'll—I'll— smash his jaw!' --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^  ;void(0)) MISUNDERSTOOD/MISUNDERSTANDING . . see: "MISINTERPRETATION" see: "OBSCURITY" see: "UNDERSTANDING" see: "COMMUNICATION" for other related links - But without question the highlight came when the entire crowd — not just us older folks in our 50s, but also the young people in their late 40s — joined together to sing "Barbara Ann," all of us united for the moment by our inability to remember that one verse that goes something like: Tried Betty Sue Did the boogaloo Went to the zoo And I saw a tiger poo --Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist. _Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down_ [2000] - ^ Noël Coward (1899—1973) British playwright, actor, and wit. The American writer Barnaby Conrad was badly gored in a bullfight in Spain in 1958. The columnist Leonard Lyons recorded a subsequent conversation between Eva Gabor and Noël Coward at a New York restaurant. 'Noël dahling,' said Eva, 'have you heard the news about poor Bahnaby? He vass terribly gored in Spain.' 'He was *what*?' asked Coward in alarm. 'He vass gored!' 'Thank heavens. I thought you said he was bored.' --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a hell of a lot more if I had been understood. --Clarence Darrow (1857—1938) American lawyer. Attributed in Sydney Harris _Majority of One_ [1957]. If you understood everything I said, you'd be me. --Miles Davis (1926—1991) American jazz musician. Quoted in _Independent_ [6 October 1991]. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. _Essays: First Series_ [1841] "Self-Reliance" No one would talk much in society, if he knew how often he misunderstands others. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832) German poet, novelist, and playwright. _Elective Affinities_, bk. II, ch. 4 [1809] I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. --Robert McCloskey, State Department spokesman at one of his regular noon briefings during the worst days of the Vietnam War, according to Marvin Kalb in _TV Guide_ [31 March 1984]. Kalb says this sage bit of advice has since been immortalized on the door to the press booth at the State Department. Look you, if you take the matter otherwise than is meant, Captain MacMorris, peradventure I shall think you do not use me with that affability as in discretion you ought to use me. --William Shakespeare (1564—1616) English dramatist. _King Henry V_, III, iii [1598—1599] ^ Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809—1892) British poet, poet laureate [1850—1892] Tennyson was entertaining a Russian nobleman on his house on the Isle of Wight. One morning the Russian set off on a shooting expedition, returning later that day with the proud news that he had shot two peasants. Tennyson politely corrected his guest's pronunciation: 'You mean two pheasants,' he said. 'No,' replied the Russian,' 'two peasants. They were insolent, so I shot them.' --_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_ edited by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard [2000 ed.] ^ The only people who remain misunderstood are those who either do not know what they want or are not worth understanding. --Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818—1883) Russian novelist, poet, and playwright. _Rudin_, ch. 5 [1856] - [Saigon, late 1964] I am standing at the reception desk when an American businessman arrives after a long flight from New York. It has taken more than twenty-four hours. He is tired and jet lagged, and he wants nothing more than a room, a shower, and a long sleep. My name is ...," he offers his name in a peremtory tone to the receptionist, "and you have a reservation for me." The hotel employee looks down his list in vain. "I am sorry," he says. "We don't have a reservation for you." The American grows concerned, decent hotel rooms in Saigon are hard to find. "Yes, you have my reservation, just look again," he insists and spells out his name. Again, the Vietnamese receptionist says he is sorry, but there is no reservation. The fatigue of jet lag begins to slide into open irritation as the American insists that his office in New York had confirmed the reservation and that is that. The receptionist begins to dig in and takes a defensive position behind an impassive facial facade and icy demeanor. I listen as the conversation escalates. "You have my reservation!" "No, we do not!" "Yes, you do!" "No, we do not!" Finally, the American gives in and asks plaintively, "Well, what am I going to do? I need a room." "Oh, you need a room?" the receptionist replies quickly. "We have a room available." The American's mounting anger gives way to bafflement mixed with irritation. "Why are we having this argument? Why didn't you give me the room in the first place?" "But you didn't ask me for a room," the receptionist replies with what he considers to be immaculate logic. "You said we had your reservation. We don't have your reservation. But if you want a room, you've got a room. Here, fill out this form." If an epitaph is ever written for the American-Vietnamese effort to work and prevail together, it might read, "Here lies the result of a tragic misunderstanding!" --Garrick Utley (b. 1939) American TV journalist. _You Should Have Been Here Yesterday_, ch. 14 [2000] - Dick Cheney and George W. Bush were having breakfast at the White House. The attractive waitress asks Cheney what he would like, and he replies, "I'd like a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit." "And what can I get for you, Mr. President?" George W. replies with his trademark wink and slight grin, "How about a quickie this morning?" "Why, Mr. President!" the waitress exclaims "How rude! You're starting to act like Mr. Clinton, and you've only been in your second term of office for a year!" As the waitress storms away, Cheney leans over to Bush and whispers..."It's pronounced 'quiche'." - ----- imbroglio [im-BROHL-yoh], noun: 1. A complicated and embarrassing state of things. 2. A confused or complicated disagreement or misunderstanding. 3. An intricate, complicated plot, as of a drama or work of fiction. 4. A confused mass; a tangle. incongruous [in-KONG-groo-us], adjective: 1. Lacking in harmony, compatibility, or appropriateness. 2. Inconsistent with reason, logic, or common sense. obscure [uhb-SKYOOR], adjective: 1. Not clearly expressed; hard to understand. 2. To hide from view; dim, darken. recondite [REK-un-dyt], adjective: 1. Difficult to understand; abstruse. 2. Concerned with obscure subject matter. ;void(0)) MOB . . see: "ANARCHY" see: "CRIME & PUNISHMENT" see: "MAFIA" see: "THE HUMAN RACE" see: "REVOLUTION" It is an easy and a vulgar thing to please the mob, ... but ... to improve them is a work fraught with difficulty, and teeming with danger. --C.C. Colton (1780—1832) English clergyman and writer. _Lacon: or, Many Things in Few Words_, CCCCLIII [1820] - 'It's always best on these occasions to do what the mob do.' 'But suppose there are two mobs?' suggested Mr. Snodgrass. 'Shout with the largest,' replied Mr. Pickwick. --Charles Dickens (1812—1870) English novelist. _The Pickwick Papers_, ch. 13 [1837] - The scum that rises upmost, when the nation boils. --John Dryden (1631—1700) English poet, critic, and dramatist. Attributed in _Great Truths by Great Authors_ [1856]. The tendency of unlimited industrialism is to create bodies of men and women — of all classes — detached from tradition, alienated from religion, and susceptible to mass suggestion: in other words, a mob. And a mob will be no less a mob if it is well fed, well clothed, well housed, and well disciplined. --T.S. Eliot (1888—1965) Anglo-American poet, critic, and dramatist. _The Idea of a Christian Society_ [1939 essay] - The mob is a man vouluntarily descending to the nature of the beast. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. _Essays: First Series_ [1841], "Compensation" If the pupil be of a texture to bear it, the best university that can be recommended to a man of ideas is the gauntlet of the mob. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. _Society and Solitude_ [1870], "Eloquence" - A Mob's a Monster; Heads enough, but no Brains. --Benjamin Franklin (1706—1790) American politician, inventor, and scientist. _Poor Richard's Almanack_ [November 1747] The mob has many heads, but no brains. --Thomas Fuller (1654—1734) English writer and physician. Comp., _Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs_ [1732] The professional moralists who inveigh against drunkenness are strangely silent about the equally disgusting vice of herd-intoxication — of downward self-transcendence into subhumanity by the process of getting together into a mob. --Aldous Huxley (1894—1963) English novelist (Grandson of T.H. Huxley.) _The Devils of Loudun_ [1952] Every man has a mob self and an individual self, in varying proportions. --D.H. (David Herbert) Lawrence (1885—1930) English novelist and poet. _Pornography and Obscenity_ (essay) [1929] No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. --Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909—1966) Polish writer. _More Unkempt Thoughts_ [1968] The only kind of freedom that the mob can imagine is freedom to annoy and oppress its betters, and that is precisely the kind that we mainly have. --H.L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (1880—1956) American journalist and literary critic. "The American Mercury" [1930] I never saw a mob rush across town to do a good deed. --Wilson Mizner (1876—1933) American playwright. Quoted in John Burke _Rogue's Progress: The Fabulous Adventures of Wilson Mizner_ [1975]. The mob is a sort of bear; while your ring is through its nose, it will even dance under your cudgel; but should the ring slip, and you lose your hold, the brute will turn and rend you. --Jane Porter (1776—1850) Scottish novelist. In _Aphorisms of Sir Philip Sidney_, p. 45 [1807]. A swarm of gnats will overpower an elephant. --Sa'di [Muslih-uddin] (c. 1184—1291?) Iranian poet. _The Gulistan, or Rose Garden_ (story 28) [A.D. 1258] tr. Edward Rehatsek [1964] It is the proof of a bad cause when it is applauded by the mob. --Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC—65 A.D.) Roman philosopher and poet. Attributed in Craufurd Tait Ramage _Great Thoughts from Latin Authors_, p. 535 [3rd ed. 1884]. He whose honor depends on the mob must day by day strive with the greatest anxiety, act and scheme in order to retain his reputation. For the mob is varied and inconstant, and therefore if a reputation is not carefully preserved it dies quickly. --Benedict de Spinoza (1632—1677) Dutch-Jewish philosopher, the foremost exponent of 17th century Rationalism. _Ethics_, pt. IV [1677] . . see: "ABSTINENCE" see: "FOOD & DRINK" see: "SELF-CONTROL" see: "SUCCESS" for other related links The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom. --Aristotle (384—322 B.C.) Greek philosopher. _Nicomachean Ethics_, bk. V [c. 350 B.C.] To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. --Augustine, St. of Hippo (354—430) Christian theologian and bishop of Hippo in Roman Africa [396—430]. _On the Good of Marriage_ [401] I'm the foe of moderation, the champion of excess. If I may lift a line from a die-hard whose identity is lost in the shuffle, 'I'd rather be strongly wrong than weakly right.' --Tallulah Bankhead (1903—1968) American actress. _Tallulah_ [1952] The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. --William Blake (1757—1827) English poet. _The Marriage of Heaven and Hell_ [1790-93] "Proverbs of Hell" Temperance puts wood on the fire, meal in the barrel, flour in the tub, money in the purse, credit in the country, contentment in the house, clothes on the back, and vigor in the body. --Benjamin Franklin (1706—1790) American politician, inventor, and scientist. Attributed in Rev. Elon Foster _New Cyclopaedia of Prose Illustrations_, p. 725 [2nd vol., 1877]. I *will be* as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. [...] I am in earnest—I will not equivocate— I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch— AND I will be heard. --William Lloyd Garrison (1805—1879) American abolitionist and reformer. In the first issue of the "Liberator" [1 January 1831]. Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. --Barry Goldwater (1909—1998) American conservative politician. Speech in San Francisco, Ca. [16 July 1964], accepting nomination for president. This much I think I do know — that a society so riven that the spirit of moderation is gone, no court can save; that a society where that spirit flourishes, no court need save; that in a society which evades its responsibility by thrusting upon the courts the nurture of that spirit, that spirit in the end will perish. --Learned Hand (1872—1961) American judge. "The Contribution of an Independent Judiciary to Civilization" Speech in Boston, Mass. [21 November 1942]. Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robert Heinlein (1907—1988) American science-fiction writer. _The Notebooks of Lazarus Long_ [1978] Moderation has been made a virtue in order to curb the ambition of the great, and also to console those who are mediocre in either fortune or merit. --François de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680) French classical author. "Maxims" # 308 Joy, and Temperance, and Repose Slam the door on the doctor's nose. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882) American poet. "The Best Medicines" in _The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems_ [3rd ed., 1846]. [Of John Hampden, an English statesman killed in battle:] He knew that the essence of war is violence, and that moderation in war is imbecility. --Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800—1859) English politician and historian. "Lord Nugent's Memorials of Hampden" essay in _Edinburgh Review_ [1831]. The decent moderation of today will be the least human of things tomorrow. At the time of the Spanish Inquisition, the opinion of good sense and of the good medium was certainly that people ought not to burn too large a number of heretics; extreme and unreasonable opinion obviously demanded that they should burn none at all. --Maurice Maeterlinck (1862—1949) Belgium poet and playwright. Quoted in Milton Ridvas Konvitz _Fundamental Liberties of a Free People_ [1957]. Don't smoke too much, drink too much, eat too much or work too much. We're all on the road to the grave — but there's no reason to be in the passing lane. --Robert Orben (b. 1927) American magician and comedy writer. Quoted in William Safire & Leonard Safir _Words of Wisdom: More Good Advice_ [1989]. A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice. --Thomas Paine [spelled Pane prior to 1774] (1737—1809) English-American writer and political pamphleteer. _The Rights of Man_, pt. II, ch. 5 [1792] In everything the middle course is best: all things in excess bring trouble to men. --Titus Maccius Plautus (254—184 BC) Roman comic dramatist. _Poenulus_, I, 2, 29 Happiness is a way-station between too little and too much. --Channing Pollack (1880—1946) American playwright, dramatist, and critic. "Mr. Moneypenny" [1928] 'Tis not the eating, nor 'tis not the drinking that is to be blamed, but the excess. --John Selden (1584—1654) English historian. _Table Talk_ [1689] Moderation in all things. --Terence [Publius Terentius Afer] (c. 190—159 BC) Roman comic dramatist. _Andria_ (The Lady of Andros) l. 61 Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. --Voltaire (François Marie Arouet) (1694—1778) French writer and philosopher. _Sept discours en vers sur l'homme_ [1738] I don't believe in women thinking too much. Women should think in moderation, as they should do all things in moderation. --Oscar Wilde (1854—1900) Anglo-Irish dramatist and poet. _A Woman of No Importance_ [1893] - Nothing in excess. --anon., inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and variously ascribed to the Seven Wise Men - ODTQ Every culture has its distinctive and normal system of government. Yours is democracy, moderated by corruption. Ours is totalitarianism, moderated by assassination. --attributed to anon. Russian ----- modicum [MOD-ih-kum], noun: A small or moderate or token amount. Synonyms: trace, hint . . see: "BLUSHING" see: "INNOCENCE" see: "CHARACTER" for other related links Men should allow others' excellences, to preserve a modest opinion of their own. --Isaac Barrow (1630-1677) English classical scholar, theologian, and mathematician who was a teacher of Isaac Newton. Quoted in Maturin M. Ballou _Treasury of Thought_, p. 29 [15th ed. 1894]. Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. --Ludwig van Beethoven (1770—1827) German composer. Letter to Ferdinand Ries [20 December 1822]. - Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth. --Bible "Proverbs" 27:2 A beautiful woman lacking discretion and modesty is like a fine gold ring in a pig's snout. --Bible "Proverbs" 11:22 TLB - Modesty is the only sure bait when you are fishing for praise. --attributed to Lord Byron and G.K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton I don't know how it is, but the Germans are amazed at me — and I am amazed at them for finding anything to be amazed about! --Frédéric Chopin (1810—1849) Polish composer. Letter to his family [8 August 1829], as quoted in Arthur Hedley (ed.) _Selected Correspondence of Fryderyk Chopin_ [1962]. [Of Clement Attlee:] A modest man who has a good deal to be modest about. --Winston Churchill (1874—1965) British Conservative statesman and Prime Minister [1940—1945, 1951—1955]. In "Chicago Sunday Tribune Magazine of Books" [27 June 1954]. A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. --Confucius (551—479 B.C.) K'ung Ch'iu, Chinese philosopher. Quoted in Maturin M. Ballou _Treasury of Thought_, p. 490 [15th ed. 1894]. Immodest words admit of no defence; For want of decency is want of sense. --Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon, (1633—1684) English poet. _Essay on Translated Verse_, l. 113 For me, the worst thing about having King Kong walk down your street is that kids could look up and see the giant genitalia. --Jack Handey (b. 1949) American comedian and comedy writer. _The Lost Deep Thoughts_ [1998] When I read something saying I've not done anything as good as Catch-22 I'm tempted to reply, 'Who has?' --Joseph Heller (1923—1999) American novelist. In "The Times" [9 June 1993], as quoted in Elizabeth Knowles (ed.) _The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations_ [1999 ed.]. Shortly after the battleship vote, in warm May weather, the President led [French Ambassador] Jusserand, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon, and three other hikers on a strenuous, cliff-hanging expedition along the Virginia side of the Potomac, near Chain Bridge. When all were pouring with perspiration, Roosevelt suggested a swim, and stripped naked. His party followed suit, but Jusserand absentmindedly kept on his black kid climbing gloves. "Eh, Mr. Ambassador," Roosevelt called from the water's edge, "have you not forgotten something?" Jusserand shouted back, "We might meet ladies." --Edmund Morris (b. 1940) Kenyan-born American biographer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. _Theodore Rex_ [May 1908] The modest fan was lifted up no more, and virgins smiled at what they blushed before. --Alexander Pope (1688—1744) English poet. _An Essay on Criticism_, pt. I [1711] Great men never make bad use of their superiority; they see it, and feel it, and are not less modest. The more they have, the more they know their own deficiencies. --Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712—1778) French philosopher and novelist. Attributed in William Alexander Cocke _The Bailey Controversy in Texas_ [1908]. But I'm not a bit like Sybil. I'm not a bit like any of the parts I've played, I don't think. I don't know who the hell I am, really. Somebody is trying to write a biography of me, and I keep saying 'Why do you want to do that?' One of the main reasons I wanted to be an actress was that it gave me a chance to play people infinitely more interesting than I am and to say things infinitely more intelligent and amusing than I could ever say. --Prunella Scales (b. 1932) British actress. Interview with Debbie Kruger in _Melbourne Weekly Magazine_ [2004]. With people of only moderate ability, modesty is mere honesty; but with those who possess great talent, it is hypocrisy. --Arthur Schopenhauer (1788—1860) German philosopher. "Studies in Pessimism Further Psychological Observations" _Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer_, tr. T. Bailey Saunders [1851] As blushing will sometimes make a whore pass for a virtuous woman, so modesty may make a fool seem a man of sense. --Jonathan Swift (1667—1745) Anglo-Irish poet and satirist. _Thoughts on Various Subjects_ [1711] Diffidence is a sort of false modesty. --William Makepeace Thackeray (1811—1863) English novelist. Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou _Edge-Tools of Speech_, p. 106 [1886]. - A modest young girl I'll call Oola Once donned a grass skirt to dance Hula A cow ate the grass Exposing her ass Now she's no longer modest but coola. --anon. -- TRIVIA: re Modesto CA (Spanish meaning 'modest, modest man.') In 1870 the namers intended to name the town for W. C. Ralston, San Francisco financier. Refusing, he was credited with modesty, and the present name was thus given. --George R. Stewart _American Place-Names_ [1970] end page | MACARTHUR (DOUGLAS) - MALICE | MAN - MARINES | MARRIAGE | MARTYRS - MAUGHAM (WILLIAM SOMERSET) | McCARTHY - MEANNESS | MEDIA (THE) | MEDICINE - MEMORIAL DAY | MEMORIES - MEMORY | MEN - MEN v. WOMEN | MENTAL ILLNESS - MILK | MIND (THE) - MINDING OWN BUSINESS | MINNESOTA - MISERY | MISFORTUNE - MISSOURI | MISTAKES | MISTAKEN IDENTITY - MODESTY | MONEY | MONROE - MOON | MORAL ASSASINATION - MORALITY | MORNING - MOUNTAINS | MOVIE DIALOGUE - MUSHROOMS | MUSIC - MYTHOLOGY | | H | I - J | K - L | M | N - O | P - Q | | Return Home | The Credits | The Cast | Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | The Reviews | |
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