mimophant

mimophant (plural mimophants)

1. see quotation; a mimosa elephant
   • 2003: "Sunday, 16th June [1985]...Nico has invented a portmanteau word which applies to people like Garrett and Derek Hill, who are keenly sensitive about their own feelings while treading on the toes of others. It is 'mimophant'. The mimosa is reputed to curl up when touched; the elephant - well!" — James Lees-Milne, Beneath A Waning Moon; Diaries, 1985-1987 p.31
   • 2004: In Rejkjavik to cover the match, the novelist Arthur Koestler famously coined the neologism "mimophant" to describe Fischer. "A mimophant is a hybrid species: a cross between a mimosa and an elephant. A member of this species is sensitive like a mimosa where his own feelings are concerned and thick-skinned like an elephant trampling over the feelings of others." — David Edmonds and John Eidinow, Bobby Fischer Goes To War, p.24