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- For the Outland character, see Milquetoast the Cockroach
Caspar Milquetoast was a comic strip character created by Harold Webster in 1924 for his comic strip The Timid Soul, published in the New York World. From this character the term "milquetoast" has come to mean "weak and ineffectual." Webster continued to produce the comic strip until his death in 1952, after which his assistant Herb Roth carried it on for another year. The name is a deliberate misspelling of the name of a bland and fairly inoffensive food, milk toast.
[edit] Meanings
- The term can refer to someone who lets others win at his/her expense. People who behave in this way may become so completely submissive that others describe them as a "doormat".
- The term can be used to describe a person of an unusually meek or submissive nature, or someone who is overly sensitive, timid, indecisive or cowardly. More rarely, it denotes someone who is chronically ill. Milk toast is light and easy to digest, therefore appropriate food for an invalid, or anyone with a "nervous stomach".
[edit] Further reading
- H. T. Webster, Introduction by Ring Lardner, The Timid Soul, Simon and Schuster (1931)
- The Best of H. T. Webster: A Memorial Collection, Simon and Schuster (1953), hardcover, 254 pages.
- The Timid Soul, New York World (newspaper), http://www.toonopedia.com/milqueto.htm
