"supercilious, intelligent, a mask of urbanity that did not quite conceal a lingering hope that life might yet hold some surprise. It was the face of a man who had seen it all, but was too polite to point it out—the face of George Sanders, the greatest cad of all time. "....

"Our diminished modern keyboard of se*ual villainy no longer possesses that peculiar note. A**h…, losers, creeps, yes. Bozos, jerk-offs, schmucks and idiots, to be sure. Men with  "issues," co-dependents, se* addicts and those "unable to commit"—these can be found on every bar stool. But cads? They have gone the way of dueling scars, vapours and the monocle—"

from,[url=http://www.salon.com/07/features/sanders.html]"You, sir,
are an unmitigated cad!"  [/url]
just wondering why we no longer call people cads, yes I know about the acronym, but men as cads?  no.
J.

I can’t think of a specific example, but I’ve heard ‘cad’ used often enough. It seems to have lost much of the connotation of refinement, to be left with only the decadent portion of its meaning, though.

The term does suffer from the fact that it can only be meaningfully used to describe a third person, as anyone truthfully described by the term in its fullest sense could not but be amused by such comments directed at them.

Interesting article.

The term does suffer from the fact that it can only be meaningfully used to describe a third person, as anyone truthfully described by the term in its fullest sense could not but be amused by such comments directed at them.

Of course no one sees themselves as the bad guy, we are all the hero’s in our own docu-dramas.
J.

Results from the Online Etymology Dictionary, for the curious:

cad - 1730, shortening of cadet, originally used of servants, then (1831) of town boys by students at British universities and public schools (though at Cambridge it meant "snob"). Meaning "person lacking in finer feelings" is from 1838.

caddie - c.1635, Scottish form of Fr. cadet. Originally "person who runs errands;" meaning of "golfer’s assistant" is 1851.

caddy - 1792, from Malay kati a weight equivalent to about a pound and a half, adopted as a standard by British companies. Apparently the word for a measure of tea was transfered to the chest it was carried in.

The word cad does share its origins with caddie, but not with caddy... So watch your spellings!

[quote author=jmonro12 link=board=wordsuggest;num=1044147511;start=0#2 date=02/02/03 at 14:51:11]
we are all the hero’s in our own docu-dramas.

Nuh-uh. I’m the villain in mine. Bob’s the hero. And I always win, stupid do-gooders! YAHAHAHAHHA!!!

Bob?  ???

I assume is one of Silver Han’s other personalities…  :)

I think she was referring to Bob Zurunkel…

;D

lol, I don’t have any names for my ‘other personalities’  but they do like to talk a lot.  oh,

Bob Zurunkel

 I just Got it, lol ;D
J.

Ah, phooey, that’s what I was going to say, but Tim got to it first… curses! Foiled again!

(But not by Bob!)