mumpsimus

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mumpsimus a traditional custom or notion adhered to although shown to be unreasonable; a person who obstinately adheres to such a custom or notion. The word represents an erroneous version of Latin sumpsimus in quod in ore sumpsimus ‘which we have taken into the mouth’ (Eucharist), in a story of an illiterate priest who, when corrected, replied ‘I will not change my old mumpsimus for your new sumpsimus’.