So I Was Asked... (along with a Mag7 ficlet, 128 words)
... By someone who knows me all too well (hi, Laurie!!) if I [a] knew the word pecksniffian and [b] if I could use it in a sentence.
Do I what.
Not only do I love words - and pecksniffian and its relation pecksniffery are so richly rotund in themselves - but I also love the works of Charles Dickens, and yes, this comes from the character Samuel Pecksniff in the 1840s book Martin Chuzzlewit. It can be paraphrased, as best we can methinks, as smugly pretending to be good and moral, a sanctimonious hypocrite, but comes with an extra touch of oiliness in the word's aura (which is why I love words that come from names - they carry such wonderful extra nuances from the named).
Anyway, I used it in a sentence wrapped in the tiniest of scraps of dialogue, since there would be a good chance my dearest Ezra (Magnificent 7, vaguely 1870s, likes to dress up his speech :) would know and rather fancy it...
"Some of the more righteous townsfolk we are so... privileged to serve, may see Mister Scrimgeour as a noble and benevolent member of their oh-so-moral community, but trust me - or don't, if you really find it too arduous - he's vile, mendacious, and pecksniffian to the core."
Chris gazed at him, saying nothing, and saying it forcefully.
Ezra sighed. "He's almost as noble and benevolent as, well as I am, Mister Larabee."
Chris still said nothing.
"Or not nearly - so."
Still nothing, and the gaze was becoming... discomforting.
"Sincerely, Chris, he's crooked to the bone." Ezra snapped, "And put simply, he hides it well."
That made Chris blink. "'Sincerely'...? 'Simply'?" he drawled. "From you?"
"I know, I know, I do try to avoid those words..."
***
(PS - Dickens' names - to touch on another of my mad passions - are invariably OTT, but gloriously and perfectly so... love 'em)
(PPS - Daniel Jackson (Stargate) would know it too, and probably its nearest equivalent at least 19 languages - but somehow I can't see him using it. Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds) would give you a two-hour rundown on its full etymological history. And The Doctor probably suggested it to Dickens :)