(idea) by junkpile Sun Nov 12 2000 at 6:18:44

Irritating variant of "complete."

Reportedly, this spelling first appeared in 1653, when Englishman Isaac Walton published The Compleat Angler, a book which claimed to contain absolutely anything one might ever need to know about fishing. Not true - the book was a rambler, filled with folk tales and myths. Ever since, the -eat spelling has been a signal that one is in for grandiose or humorous information. It is, in some cases, a sort of humorous way of admitting that an account, though it may be lengthy, is not really complete.

Some claim this variant actually connotes "expert" or "highly proficient" - whatever. Mostly, of course, people use it because they either can't spell or don't know what they're doing.

Keep in mind, my primary source for this information is Piers Anthony, that crazy old perv.

Side note: www.compleat-angler.com has been "SERVING THE FLY FISHING INDUSTRY SINCE 1980," but the site doesn't mention Walton's book, not do they explain why they used the funky spelling.


thanks to:
http://dawn.home.mindspring.com/compleat.html
http://www.piers-anthony.com/faq.html#why
www.compleat-angler.com

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