Talk:epitome

In reference to:


 * 2 (of a class of items) the height; the best
 * (this sense is considered incorrect by some)

As traditionally incorrect as it seems, quoting the OED definition:

DRAFT ADDITIONS JUNE 2005 epitome, n.   * A person who or thing which is a perfect embodiment of a particular quality or type. Usu. in      the (very) epitome of.

with a first recorded usage of:

1698 M. PIX Queen Catharine V. 49 My Lord, you're come to meet news as sad As what you bring; to see a wretched Court, The very Epitome of sorrow

So can it really still be considered incorrect?
 * It can always be considered incorrect, but since now is never the epitomical moment to remove the Usage notes, perhaps it should be submitted to Requests for verification?--Riverstogo (talk) 23:37, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

French translation of summary
Hello, in translation section about summary definition, french translation is tout craché. IMO, this translation is wrong. It exists french word épitomé which correspond at this definition. Moreover tout craché is an adjective and not a noun. Pamputt 09:51, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Hello, in french
fortunately, for the time being, "épitomé" (or "épitome") means only "summary". I had noted, before the entry was replaced by some (middle-eastern ?) interesting creation, that a french (red) translation was given for it : tout craché. I just imagine the turmoil in our latin class (in the '50) if our professor had said : "Ouvrez votre tout craché de latin à la page 10"... "Tout craché" (literally "alike as 2 spittles")  means "exactly alike", & is used almost only in the expression : "C'est son frère (ou son père, ou sa mère) tout craché" ("He really looks like his father, or brother, or mother...").

An equivalent, less coarse, of "tout craché" 'd be : "a chip of the old block".

So the french translation of epitome=summary is "résumé" or "livre de morceaux choisis", & in es. "compendio" or "resumen". But dont expect me to go & correct it just now : from our trench-war experiences, we've kept the saying "do not jaywalk into the no-man's-land just after an attack has been repulsed...".

BTW, Pamputt, I agree with you - & est-ce qu'on n'avait pas un (léger) désaccord sur "do not shoot the messenger" ? T.y. Arapaima 17:28, 19 September 2010 (UTC)