Mooreeffoc, also known as The Mooreeffoc Effect, denotes the queerness of things that have become commonplace, when they are seen suddenly from a new angle. The coinage is generally attributed to
G K Chesterton,
although the incident that led to it actually occurred to
Charles Dickens.
The word was first mentioned by Dickens in his autobiography. In a coffee room he visited regularly, he looked up at the glass window-sign from the inside and saw ''moor eeffoc''. He attributed profound significance to this trivial realization, and he related it to our ability to gain new perspective on familiar things that have become trite because of time or use. Chesterton, in his 1906 book ''
Charles Dickens: a Critical Study'', commented that Dickens's writing shows this "elvish kind of realism...everywhere".
also used the word in the same sense in his essay ''
On Fairy-stories
"On Fairy-Stories" is an essay by J. R. R. Tolkien which discusses the fairy story as a literary form. It was written as a lecture entitled "Fairy Stories" for the Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, on 8 March 1939. ...
''.
See also
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Nacirema
Nacirema ("American" spelled backwards) is a term used in anthropology and sociology in relation to aspects of the behavior and society of citizens of the United States of America. The neologism attempts to create a deliberate sense of self-distanc ...
References
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Terminology