Gladys
Proper noun
  1. A female given name.
    • 1882 Edna Lyall: Donovan:
      Gladys was the eldest daughter of the house, and when her parents had chosen her name - a name which they considered emblematic of happiness, in spite of certain questionings that had arisen among the name fanciers on the subject - it would seem that some unseen fairy godmother had really bestowed that best of all gifts on their child, for Gladys was the happiest, most contented, sunshiny little person imaginable.
    • 1922 F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned:
      Anthony continued the prophecy:
      "Of course Gladys and Eleanor, having graced the last generation of heroines and being at present in their social prime, will be passed on to the next generation of shopgirls -"
    • 1993 May 16, "Return to New York" Jeeves and Wooster, Series 3, Episode 6:
      R. Jeeves: In my experience, ladies who spell Gladys with a W are seldom noted for their reliability, sir. It gives them romantic notions.
      B.W. Wooster: With a W, Jeeves? No, no, no, no. You spell it with a G.
      R. Jeeves: If I might draw your attention to the signature on the portrait, sir.
      B.W. Wooster: Good Lord! G-W?
      R. Jeeves: I blame Alfred Lord Tennyson and his Idylls of the King. It also accounts for Kathryn, Ysabel, and Ethyl, all spelt with a Y, but Gwladys is a particularly virulent form, sir.



This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Offline English dictionary