Nessie
- noun
- Literature
- We tussled and thrashed!" yelled Great-uncle Michael. "Twas a terrible fight, and my life was the prize!" Robert went for a ride on Nessie's back.
- Nessie the monster
No story about Nessie would be complete without the hoaxes, and there are many.
- No story about Nessie would be complete without the hoaxes, and there are many.
- And so journalists have talked to him before and he's always this sort of the crackpot Nessie hunter.
Examples
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Nessie licked Robert's hand and motioned to him with her flipper.
Fiction book (2000) -
What's up, Nessie?
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Did you come to tell us about Nessie?
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My heart goes out to them and to Nessie.
Blog text (19) -
No story about Nessie would be complete without the hoaxes, and there are many.
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Next time you see old Nessie out there, you just slap a saddle on and then I bet you she won't be so scary.
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Nessie smiled and waved, too.
Fiction book (2000) -
Nessie had greenish-blue scales and flippers on her side.
Fiction book (2000) -
There are plenty of stories there—ammonites as snakestones, belemnites as thunderbolts, the origins of dragons, Nessie, and so on.
Blog text (26) -
Many people believe that Nessie is a legendary monster lurking in Loch Ness.
Synonyms
A large, famous creature like a long-necked animal that people say lives in Loch Ness, Scotland
An imaginary being like a dragon or unicorn with magical powers
A made-up creature from old stories or folk tales
A frightening creature from stories or legends that is not real
Surface Forms
Morphology
Nessie = Ness (semi-transparent) = Ness + ie
The formation 'Ness' + diminutive '-ie' is a common nickname pattern, but the specific referent (a mythical creature) depends on cultural knowledge of Loch Ness and is not fully predictable for learners.
Etymology
Nessie is a friendly nickname formed from Loch Ness and the ending -ie, which makes a name sound 'little' or 'friendly', as in 'doggie'. So the name points to the lake and gives the famous mythical creature an easy, familiar name people can remember.