panjandrum [M18th] This term for a pompous person is one of the few words we can say when, how, and by whom it was invented. It was coined in 1755 by the English actor and playwright Samuel Foote (1720–77) in response to the actor Charles Macklin’s claim that he could memorize and repeat anything said to him. The word was part of a string of nonsense that went ‘And there were present the Picninnies, and the Joblillies, and the Garyulies, and the Grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top’.