Deedy

The novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett, asked by the London Times to give a brief account of her life, replied: "There isn't much to say. I haven't been at all deedy." Deedy! This is one of those words that, once you have seen it, makes you wonder why it isn't in everyday use. The job interviewer, going through a pile of submitted résumés: "This one's all right, but … no, not deedy enough." The biographer or obituarist: "The next few years were his deediest …" The self-improvement guru: "Deediness depends on a positive attitude!" The psychiatrist's patient: "I married George because he seemed so deedy, but …"