"Plantagenet" Trend Watch

Merriam-Webster Online now features "Plantagenet" at the top of its Trend Watch list for most looked-up words. Not surprisingly, the trend peaked on February 4. Interestingly, the definition suggests that the name derives from the shrubs that Geoffrey planted to hide him when he was hunting. I'd always heard that he wore a sprig of the shrub in his hat. Anyway, for those interested, you can go to the main page of the site, http://www.merriam-webster.com/, or directly to the Plantagenet page: http://www.merriam-webster.com/trend-watch/2013/02/07/

Either way, they use a line drawing from, I think, the eighteenth century as their illustration of Richard. It's not terribly unflattering, but it doesn't much resemble him and it makes him look much older than he really was (for which I blame Sir Thomas More and his misstated age of Edward IV).

Carol