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# The BFD Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-bfd-word-of-the-day-1537/
- Published: 2024-04-14T18:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2024-02-12T16:18:53.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-06-28 02:24

The word for today is…

MacGuffin (noun):

: an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MacGuffin?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : The first person to use MacGuffin as a word for a plot device was Alfred Hitchcock. He borrowed it from an old shaggy-dog story in which some passengers on a train interrogate a fellow passenger carrying a large, strange-looking package. The fellow says the package contains a “MacGuffin,” which, he explains, is used to catch tigers in the Scottish Highlands. When the group protests that there are no tigers in the Highlands, the passenger replies, “Well, then, this must not be a MacGuffin.” Hitchcock apparently appreciated the way the mysterious package holds the audience’s attention and builds suspense. He recognized that an audience anticipating a solution to a mystery will continue to follow the story even if the initial interest-grabber turns out to be irrelevant.

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