“Obliviot” is a shorthand term for the sort of person who tends to be featured in This is True. Some ask what it means(!), and others wonder where it came from. This page has the answers.
First, the Definition
Maybe I’m an Obliviot: I figured that the meaning of the word was patently obvious, but a surprising number of people ask what it means. Hence this page.
Obliviot is a portmanteau (French: a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words) combining oblivious (lacking conscious awareness) and idiot (a person who is considered foolish or stupid).
(Those definitions are from The American Heritage dictionary.)
So, rather than just foolish or stupid, obliviots are typically completely unaware of their idiocy.
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A Twist
When the SARS-CoV-2 syndrome was named “Covid-19” (Coronavirus Disease 2019) in February 2020, someone (alas, not I!) coined “covidiot” to refer to those who dealt with the facts stupidly. Its first appearance in a True newsletter was March 2020.
I’d like to think that the spread of “obliviot” helped seed “covidiot”.
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