Meaning of catastroscope | Babel Free

Definitions

A catastrophe

dated, excessive, humorous, usually

Examples

“Confronted with such a word as "catastrophe," Durante runs amok and produces "catastroscope," which the late Robert Benchley argued was a great improvement. Even such a modest adjective as “exuberant” feels the edge of Durante’s scorn. It comes out “exubilant,” which is not only funny but more exuberant.”

“He'd like a tip like that, I says to myself, and to surprise him I slips in 10 pounds on the horse for him. And the horse loses to Pearson! A catastroscope!”

““What a ghastly catastroscope,” lamented his fellow-author. “Why do these gruesome hoohahs always have to pick on us to happen to?["]”

“My congratulations to the team responsible for "TV Hell," your evening of selected tripe from the archives. ... Unfortunately, your researchers slipped up. As a connoisseur of catastroscopes, I am astonished there was no reference to a uniquely appalling show which elbowed itself onto the schedules about a decade ago.”

“Oh dear! A catastroscope here at Harringay Arena! The plucky young flyweight is down again!”

“The other thing that's worth knowing about Harry is that the one thing he's never short of is ideas, and that's really where we come in now, because I got the idea for my Christmas special from him, and a right bleeding catastroscope it turned out to be.”

“2000, "Catastroscope" Research & Development vol. 42 p. 13 →ISSN The 200th anniversary of the US in 1976 coincided with the sesquimillennial of the fall of Rome in 476 A.D. ... It apparently was what the late comedian Jimmy Durante might have said, " It's a catastroscope!"”

“2007, Max Sollitt, Catastroscopes: A Creative and Adventurous Australian Bloke's Battle with Clinical Depression and Anno Domini, (Melbourne : Temple House) →ISBN”

“A pedagogic disaster, a catastroscope as comedian Jimmy Durante would say.”

CEFR level