A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address
A vocative which comments on the miserable demeanour of a person at a given moment, or perhaps on his general disposition.
Georgy Girl, by Margaret Forster, has ‘Misery’ used as an intimacy between lovers. In St Urbain’s Horseman, by Mordecai Richler, occurs: ‘Harry, you misery, don’t you care about the Jewish children?’ This is said by a man who thinks that the person he is talking to is expressing a negative viewpoint. A man says to a young woman; ‘What’s up, Misery? in Ngaio Marsh’s Opening Night She is in fact upset because of his insensitive reference to someone who has just died.
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