Make Your Point: BRIGADOON

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BRIGADOON

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce BRIGADOON:

BRIG uh DUNE

connect this word to others:

A high five to Mark, who brought the kooky word Brigadoon to my attention! Suddenly the parody Schmigadoon! makes so much more sense!

Mark thought of this term when we checked out a similar one, Xanadu. As you might recall, a Xanadu is a dreamland, a paradise, a utopia. Can you also recall the defining feature of a Xanadu: something it must have in order for you to really call it a Xanadu? Hint: it's around the edges.

definition:

(Source)

Here's a poster from the movie version of the musical "Brigadoon," which came out in 1947.

The word "Brigadoon" was likely invented by the musical's creators, A. J. Lerner and F. Loewe. I'm guessing that they coined "Brigadoon" from the word "rigadoon," also spelled "rigaudon," meaning "a type of lively, folksy dance for couples." Here's the Souleiado French Dance Group, dancing a rigadoon:

(Source)

Now, back to the musical! In the story, Brigadoon is a mysterious Scottish village that appears, out of the mist, once every century for a single day, full of residents who talk and act like they live in the distant past. A couple of American hikers stumble into this village, and adventure ensues. And romance, and singing, and dancing. So much dancing. It's one of those realities where the entire village always knows the choreography.

It didn't take long for us to start using the word "Brigadoon" in general conversation; it dates back to about 1965 in print.

If you refer to something as a Brigadoon, you mean it's
a mysterious paradise,
or a place that seems to have gotten stuck in the distant past,
or a highly bizarre myth,
or something amazing that shows up out of nowhere and then disappears.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the proper kind, so you capitalize it: "They're living in some Brigadoon."

Some writers have also used it as a proper adjective: "They had a Brigadoon moment."

Other forms:

None are common, but I spotted a writer calling a drive-in movie theater "Brigadoon-ish."

how to use it:

Pick the funny, colorful, whimsical, wacky, very rare word "Brigadoon" when you want to label some place or situation as folksy, old-fashioned, mysterious, practically inaccessible, and/or walled off from the real world. The best part about picking this word is that you, too, sound like you just stepped into the present from a the mists of a past century:

"She lives in some Brigadoon where housing is cheap and plentiful."

"I loved when sea shanties became hip during the pandemic; I feel like they just emerged from the mists of Brigadoon."

"Internet investors... [are] sequestered in a financial Brigadoon of fantasy prices and cloudless skies" (New York Times).

examples:

"There is no public electricity on Oak Island, no public water, no trash collection, no postal or emergency services. There is not a single store or restaurant... Residents have their own version of Brigadoon."
— Stacey Stowe, New York Times, 5 October 2021

"I hopped into a rental van with five friends, 50 gallons of water, canned food and a bag of illicit substances and made the pilgrimage to the millennial Brigadoon. See, Burning Man is more than just a colossal party."
— Michelle Goldberg, Salon, 8 September 1999

has this page helped you understand "Brigadoon"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "Brigadoon" without saying "El Dorado" or "meteoric."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Some show, channel, publication, event, group, or other thing) is a Brigadoon of (things)."

Example: "When I was a kid in the early 90s, Nick at Nite was a Brigadoon of sitcoms from the 50s and 60s."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "It Sounds Wiser in Latin."

Longtime readers will recognize this game. It's back, with fresh new (okay, mostly ancient) Latin idioms!

Try matching a handful of Latin phrases to their English translations. If you need some clues, I'll provide them in the form of definitions of related English words. For example, the clue "Something anguine reminds you of a snake" could help you determine that "Latet anguis in herba" means "A snake hides in the grass."

You can see the answers by scrolling to the bottom of the issue.

Try these today:

1. Acta non verba.
2. Audaces fortuna iuvat.
3. Contritium praecedit superbia.
4. Fides facit fidem.
5. Fronti nulla fides.

A. Confidence begets confidence.
B. Deeds, not words.
C. Fortune favors the brave.
D. No trust in appearances.
E. Pride comes before fall.

To peek at the clues, follow the links:

1. Something verbose is...
2. When things are insuperable, you can't...
3. A precedent is...

review this word:

1. One opposite of a BRIGADOON is

A. a DYSTOPIA: a terrible society full of unhappy people.
B. a VESUVIUS: an explosively, volcanically destructive thing.
C. a PARADOX: a statement or idea that seems to contradict itself.

2. When you're least expecting it, you'll catch the scent of something that reminds you of your distant past; it could arrive on the taste of a pastry dipped in tea, like a Proustian madeleine; or _____, like Brigadoon.

A. emerge from a mountain fog
B. claw its way out of the soil
C. strike as a bolt of lightning

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BRIGADOON Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BRIGADOON

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.