Derring-do

Derring-do---meaning great courage, of course---came about as the result of a misprint. Chaucer first penned "dorring don" meaning 'daring to do' something, and it was later misprinted as "derrynge do" and everyone took this spelling as a new compound noun meaning 'manly courage'. Alrighty then. Subsequent writers then spread the mistake far and wide, and "derring-do" became a staple of adventures. That's all well and good, but it's a little annoying when dumbness becomes mainstream. I only don't mind it when I'm the one being dumb. In any case, it's certainly a fact that being alive and living day-to-day in this crazy world, going from one madcap adventure to the next, requires much courage. Or derring-do, if you will. A double portion to all.