doughty

New word for me. Pronounced like -- but not to be confused with -- “dowdy.”

Definition of doughty:
“Having or showing courage: audacious, bold, brave, courageous, dauntless, fearless, fortitudinous, gallant, game, hardy, heroic, intrepid, mettlesome, plucky, stout, stouthearted, unafraid, undaunted, valiant, and valorous. Informal: spunky. Slang: gutsy, gutty.” (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
Slate Magazine online article “Can Vaccines Cause Autism? Eli Stone's Questionable Medicine” by Arthur Allen, posted Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. Originally published last May, the Slate article reported on federal hearings concerning the controversial vaccine-autism connection and some even more controversial "treatments." It is re-printed now in light of a new TV show premiering on ABC this week, suggesting the possibility of a link between vaccines and autism, and causing renewed hot debate.

“...Geier's foray into medicine has infuriated a number of parents of autistic children who sharply dispute the vaccine-autism link. In particular, it ticked off Kathleen Seidel, a doughty New Hampshire mother of a teenager with an autism-spectrum disorder. In a series of investigative blog posts, she laid bare the flimsy theoretical underpinnings of Geier's treatment protocol and its potential dangers. In January, the journal Autoimmunity Reviews retracted an article by the Geiers on the Lupron protocol after Seidel wrote a long, scathing letter to the editor in which she noted that both of the journal's co-editors are witnesses in vaccine litigation...”

My two cents:
There is definitely something amiss in our population with autism on the rise, and it is frightening. Whichever side of the vaccine/autism debate you come down on, this is a fascinating article worth reading. And as for the word “doughty” – I am at once delighted and ashamed of myself. What fun to learn a new word, but how can I not have already known such a short, simple, unassuming little word? Ours is not to reason why, ours is just to… well… admit it and doughtily forge ahead.