Pixy and Pixie and pixilated and pixillated

One of the things I worry about in setting up my essays is how many pixels wide to make them. Pixels, as anyone who lives in our digital age knows, are "small discrete elements" or measurementws that make up an image. So pixel-brained are we in our age, however, that we might think that the word pixilated has to do with whether or not the page is laid out properly. In fact, pixilated is a word meaning bewildered, confused or mildly insane (The OED also includes "fey, whimsical; intoxicated, tipsy"), a linguistic field which points us to the fairy-like creature pixie (also spelled pixie) rather than the digital-age pixel. Maybe, if you think long and hard enough, there might not be too much difference between pixels and pixies, but that isn't where I am going here. Let's wander down the verbal road of the pixies.

Pixie/Pixy

The Century Dictionary defines pixy simply as "a fairy," and associates it with "fairy rings" of old pastures, in which the pixies are supposed to dance at moonlight. From Walter Scott in 1822: "If thou'rt of air, let the gray mist fold thee;/ If of earth, let the swart (dark, black) mine hold thee;/ If a pixy seek thy ring; if a nixie, seek thy spring." Well, before going any further on pixies, let's mention nixies. The OED says that in German folklore a nixie is a "water sprite or nymph having a human torso and the tail of a fish, and able to take on a variety of physical appearances in order to pass unnoticed among humans." So, pixies will inhabit the mythological worlds of nymphs and dryads, of satyrs and nixies, of centaurs and other sprites and fairies, of elfs and gnomies, of genies and goblins.

But the Century, bless its early 20th century scientific heart, wants to get to the bottom of the "fairy ring," which Scott mentioned in the afore-cited poem. It says that a "fairy ring" or "circle" or "dance" is a phenomenon observed in fields, long popularly supposed to be caused by fairies in their dances. In fact, these circles were caused by a "growth of certain fungi, especially Agraricus oreades..." Some of these fungi are formed in a single night and have the appearance on the grass as if sprinkled with ashes. Then it concludes, "Similar but smaller rings are sometimes formed on old trees and rocks by the growth of a lichen in a corresponding manner." In other words, the Century wants to de-mystify these circles and, with them, the pixies. But, I think I can still see them dancing...

Pixilated

So, let's return to the rich linguistic harvest of words associated with pixilated. A pixil(l)ated person is bewildered or confused or intoxicated or even mildly insane or "fey." The word pixilated only first appeared in American English in 1848: "You'll never find on any trip/ That he'll be pix-e-lated. By 1895 a definition had arisen: "dazed, bewildered, in the dark." From a magazine 40 years later: "The word pixilated is an early American expression (how early does it think it is?)--derived from the world 'pixies' meaning elves. They would say, 'The pixies have got him,' as we nowadays would say a man is 'balmy.'" But before taking a side road to the word "balmy," one more quotation should be given. A quotation from 1935 distinguishes between "pixilated" and "crazy." "A Vermonter would not hesitate to use 'crazy' if that conveyed his meaning. A 'pixilated' man is one whose whimseys are not understood by practical-minded people. More nearly a synonym of 'whimsical.'"

Balmy and Barmy

But what does balmy mean in a previous quotation? The most popular usage of balmy today is OED definition 5: "Of wind, air, weather, etc.: deliciously mild, fragrant, and soothing." We speak especially about a balmy climate (Miami in January) or balmy weather for a trip. But the word has a broader meaning. It can refer to something soft and comforting, as when Shakespeare, in Othello, said: "To have their Balmy slumbers wak'd with strife," but it also has the meaning of "soft, weak-minded, idiotic." Though in the mid-nineteenth century balmy referred to an insane person, by the beginning of the 20th century it is connected with weak-minded criminals. From 1892: "Regarding the old 'balmy criminals, they are poor creatures, far more to be pitied than condemned." And, from Nevill's 1903 book on Penal Servitude: "These are officially classed as "W.M"--that is weak-minded--but are invariably known colloquially as 'balmies.'" Yet, by the time the mid-20th century rolled around, balmy referred mostly to a kind of dreamy or even doting state: "'I s'pose you're balmy on her,' he said resignedly."

And we can take yet one more stream from the big river before returning to pixilated and pixie. Something balmy is also something barmy. The second definition of that term is "full of ferment, excitedly active, flighty." From 1892: "One plan..is to give foolish answers when asked questions. By this means the shammer gets known as being 'barmy' (weak-minded) among his shipmates." But this got the Westminster Gazette into the action in 1896, when it said, "Should not 'balmy' be 'barmy'? I have known a person of weak intellect called 'Barmy Billy' (I hate it when they associate "Billy" with everything negative for a male, don't you?)...The prisoner..meant to simulate semi-idiocy, or 'barminess,' not 'balminess.'"

Conclusion

So now we know that pixilated refers to a certain state of mind--where one is bewildered, confused or even intoxicated. But before we move on to other words suggesting confusion or even deception, we ought to go down the road of "fey" in the OED definition. What does it mean to be "fey?"

[Next]

1743