Guy

   On November 5, 1605, a plot to blow up the House of Parliament in London was uncovered! The conspirators, opposed to the anti-Catholic laws imposed by James I, had stored thirty-six barrels of gunpowder in cellars beneath the building, enough to blow it sky-high. On that date the king was to open and address Parliament. When the plotters burrowed through the walls of the cellar, Guy Fawkes, a Roman Catholicconvert, was caught in the act, and the other conspirators were rounded up.

   The affair was named the Gunpowder Plot, and Fawkes was tried and hanged on January 31, 1606. On every November 5 grotesque effigies of Guy Fawkes were carried through the streets and burned to mark the anniversary of the failed plot. From these odd-looking effigies came the word guy. And, understandably, it has a pejorative sense in England. In America a guy is simply a boy or a man. The term is usually dressed up or down to make it complimentary ("a nice guy," "a regular guy") or insulting ("a wise guy," "a tough guy").