Adam@Home by Rob Harrell for November 11, 2009
Transcript:
Clayton: What do you have against goalies, dad? Adam: Nothing, nothing...goalkeeper is a fine position. Clayton: I'll say! The last line of defense. Like Aragorn at Helm's Deep. Adam: That does sound impressive. Clayton: And mom says goalies get to keep their teeth. But what happens to the other players' lost teeth? Adam: They put them in the Stanley Cup. That's why it's so heavy.
im-pes-sive (ĭm-pěs’-ĭv) adj (14c) [fr It pestare to pound, L pistare, + im-]: incapable of grinding, chewing, pulverizing, in the manner of a pestle.
Perhaps used ironically in the instant example, as a goalie’s intact teeth should be satisfactorily pessive for anyone (absent a habit of chewing ice, or orally cracking Brazil nuts).
The variant etymology tracing the word’s origin to the Greek “pessos”, an oval stone for playing checkers, is attractive (given the resemblance of the tooth-strewn hockey rink to a field of loose pebbles), but unsupported. Also, given that “pessos” survives in modern English as “pessary” (a vaginal suppository to prevent conception), an impessive goalie would be one who cannot sufficiently perform his function, and its use here would similarly be inapt or ironic.