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Literary notes about Addled (AI summary)

The term "addled" is employed in literature with a dual range of meaning, serving both as a metaphor for confused or impaired mental states and as a descriptive term for physical spoilage. It often evokes the image of muddled thoughts or disordered intellect, as when a character laments that their mind is “addled” from the rigors of life or wine ([1], [2], [3]). At other times, it lends itself to vivid imagery by describing objects in a state of decay or unfitness, such as eggs that have become unsuitable for hatching ([4], [5]). Additionally, its use can extend to satirical or political commentary—illustrated by a reference to a paralyzed legislative body being dubbed the “Addled Parliament” ([6])—or to colorfully depict a character’s overwhelmed state of confusion or disarray ([7], [8]). Through these varied applications, "addled" powerfully conveys both physical deterioration and a disruption of clarity in thought.
  1. My mind is sorter addled now a days, anyhow, and I hav to jes let my tawkin' tumble out permiskuous.
    — from The Wit and Humor of America, Volume VII. (of X.)
  2. Suddenly an abrupt reaction took place in the Captain's addled brain.
    — from Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris
  3. It's a point that escapes me, owing to my addled brain; doubtless you can set me right.
    — from The Seeker by Harry Leon Wilson
  4. Hence an addled egg is an egg unfit for use.
    — from Thomas Hardy's Dorset by R. Thurston (Robert Thurston) Hopkins
  5. His wife’s eggs had become addled, or something else had happened to them, and the long and short of it was that there were no young birds.
    — from Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories Rendered into English
  6. The King angrily refused and dissolved the so-called "Addled Parliament."[1]
    — from The Leading Facts of English History by D. H. (David Henry) Montgomery
  7. Surely his limbs must have been benumbed and this brain addled!
    — from 'Jena' or 'Sedan'? by Franz Adam Beyerlein
  8. "Though, perhaps, Mr. Hibbert, you may have an idea that hasn't occurred to our addled brains."
    — from The High School Boys in Summer Camp by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock

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