One of the words in the NYT yesterday was Quixotic!
Do you know the connection of that word with a country which just got into the finals of the FIFA2026!?
Now about the former I can go on and on! But please do not ask me about football! I don’t think I even know the full form of FIFA properly!
In fact the full form is related to the country which unfortunately could not make it to the finals! And was the team defeated by the country which is related to the word Quixotic!
Ok now that is a complicated play!
Lets TACKLE that one by one!
FIFA of course stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association which is translated from French and it means the International Federation of Association Football!
The answer of the country which could not make it to the finals even though FIFA full form is in its langauage is FRANCE!
Then the country which is into the finals and related to the QUIXOTIC word is SPAIN! Of course only a dud like me needs these references to know that! Then again you only concentrate on what you like!
Now before you know about Quixotic, you must know about Don Quixote!
This is of course a masterpiece Spanish novel written by Miguel de Cervantes and widely recognized as the first modern novel in literary history!
Originally published in two distinct parts in 1605 and 1615, it is a foundational work of Western literature that brilliantly satirizes the chivalric romances popular during the Spanish Golden Age!
The story in short is about Alonso Quijano, an aging, lower-tier Spanish nobleman living in La Mancha!
After devouring countless books about medieval knights, he loses his grip on reality and renames himself Don Quixote de la Mancha!
He sets out to resurrect the code of knight-errantry, righting the world’s wrongs on his feeble, bony horse, Rocinante!
His adventures or rather mis adventures form the crux of the story! But the more interesting part is that the story has inspired many words in English and Spanish like the one above!
Like the one which started the blog; Quixotic! This is an adjective describing someone who is extremely idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical.
It directly mirrors the protagonist’s habit of chasing noble, unreachable goals without regarding the real-world consequences!
Then you have an idiom which goes like this, “Tilting at Windmills”. This means fighting imaginary enemies or wasting energy combating invented wrongdoings. It stems from the iconic scene where Quixote mistakes giant windmills for menacing beasts and charges them with his lance!
Then you have the noun Dulcinea which is used to describe a sweetheart, mistress, or an idealized woman for whom a man undergoes great trials. In the novel, Dulcinea del Toboso is a plain peasant girl whom Quixote transforms in his mind into a flawless, royal lady love!
Finally you have Rocinante which is a term used to describe a broken-down, decrepit, or unreliable horse. It comes directly from the name of Quixote’s thin, weathered, and clumsy horse!
So do write a novel which makes Satire and imagination a tool for putting your point across and adding words to the language!
Now imagine if ENGLAND had entered the finals! Then I would not be Quixotic or would I!? Don will know!
With all the football talk it’s time for hockey also once in a while! Which reminds me of Dhanraj Pillay!
Now quit being toxic! And sleep!
Shubh ratri…
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