A pedantic, dull, or tediously scholarly person; a dry antiquarian or historians obsessed with trivial details.
Popularized by Sir Walter Scott's 'The Fortunes of Nigel' (1822), where 'Dr. Jonas Dryasdust' was a fictional antiquarian character. The name 'Dry-as-dust' perfectly captured the stereotype of boring, dusty scholars.
Walter Scott essentially invented this insult by creating a character name so perfectly suited to his personality that it became the actual English word for a boring know-it-all—proving that sometimes one author's joke can permanently change a language.
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