Rip Van Winkle
Slept through revolution
Rip Van Winkle is a character from Washington Irving's 1819 story who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes twenty years later to find the world transformed.
The name has become shorthand for someone hopelessly behind the times or oblivious to change: He's a Rip Van Winkle when it comes to technology.
A Rip Van Winkle moment is discovering how much has changed while you weren't paying attention.
Early American storyteller
- Catskill MountainsNew York mountain range
- American literatureU.S. written works
- folkloreInherited cultural narratives
- legendUnverified traditional tale
colonial America · Dutch settlers · allegory · fable · narrative · short story · village · inn
Light, restful unconsciousness
- twenty yearsPair of decades
- enchanted sleepMagical unconsciousness from curse
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
- drowsyNearly falling asleep
dream · somnolence · beard · aged · unconscious · deep sleep · spell · hibernation
Pair of decades
- agingGrowing older over time
- transformationThorough change in form
- passage of timeForward march of moments
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
generational shift · before and after · time skip · long absence · return · historical change · elapsed time · discontinuity
No longer in use
- behind the timesNot current or modern
- old-fashionedBelonging to earlier times
- antiquatedOld and outdated
- out of touchLacking current awareness
bygone era · anachronism · relic · time-worn · displaced · stranger · unrecognized · forgotten
Washington Irving
Early American storyteller
- Catskill MountainsNew York mountain range
- American literatureU.S. written works
- folkloreInherited cultural narratives
legend · colonial America · Dutch settlers · allegory · fable · narrative · short story · village · inn · King George
slumber
Light, restful unconsciousness
- twenty yearsPair of decades
- enchanted sleepMagical unconsciousness from curse
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
drowsy · dream · somnolence · beard · aged · unconscious · deep sleep · spell · hibernation · oblivion
twenty years
Pair of decades
- agingGrowing older over time
- transformationThorough change in form
- passage of timeForward march of moments
revolution · generational shift · before and after · time skip · long absence · return · historical change · elapsed time · discontinuity · gap
outdated
No longer in use
- behind the timesNot current or modern
- old-fashionedBelonging to earlier times
- antiquatedOld and outdated
out of touch · bygone era · anachronism · relic · time-worn · displaced · stranger · unrecognized · forgotten · irrelevant
- Short StoriesThe Tell-Tale Heart, The Lottery, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Black Cat, The Queen of Spades
- Early American LiteratureBenjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Washington Irving, Common Sense
- American folklorePaul Bunyan, tall tales, folk heroes, John Henry, folk narratives
- literary charactersSherlock Holmes, Scout Finch, Elizabeth Bennet, Macbeth, Huck Finn
- American ClassicsMoby-Dick, Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, Walden, Leaves of Grass
- Washington IrvingSleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane, Headless Horseman, Knickerbocker, Astoria
Rip Van Winkleinsomniac
Person who cannot sleep
night owl · Lady Macbeth · Macbeth · sleep-deprived · wide-awake
Rip Van Winklezeitgeist
Era's dominant mentality
early adopter · trendsetter · futurist · change agent · mover and shaker