Jellyby

English

Etymology

After the character of Mrs Jellyby in Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House (1852), who busies herself with charity work for Africa while her own household goes to ruin.

Noun

Jellyby (plural Jellybys or Jellybies)

1. A philanthropist who cares only for people in distant regions, or people away from their own household.
   • 1992, Bernard Shaw, Rebecca Swift, Letters from Margaret: correspondence between Bernard Shaw and Margaret Wheeler 1944-1950:

     My mother, devoted to music, was a Jellyby. Strictly brought up, straight backed, never careless of her person, but still as to her children, a Jellyby.

   • 2005, American Society of Magazine Editors, The Best American Magazine Writing 2005, page 360:

     Chuck Collins, a great-grandson of Oscar Mayer, is a rare non-fictional example of someone who gave away all his assets during his lifetime—a half-million-dollar inheritance, which he donated to charity nearly twenty years ago. […] He now has a daughter, who does not live like a Jellyby.