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The Gray Champion 

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A character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Gray Champion," often associated with his collection "Twice-Told Tales."

To literature students, Gray is far less well-known than some of Hawthorne's more successful literary works, such as "The Scarlet Letter."

In the story, he is a pilgrim-esque ghost figure that appears briefly in the 18th-century world to protest power abuses by a British officer.

While he does little in the story but march around, denounce the officer, and then vanish into thin air, his spirit of defiance stirs and inspires the crowd around him. Shortly after this, the officer loses his position, just as the apparition of Gray had promised.

The tale warns of pride coming before a fall in the human heart, similar to how Scarlet Letter warns against lust, secrecy, and hypocrisy. While the events of the story are pre-Revolution, the tone is very much that of the American Revolution.

The story was written in 1835, and became part of Twice-Told Vol. 1 in 1837. As of 2006, little has been done by Hollywood in terms of making any sort of movie or adaptation or anything of Gray Champion, though several movies have been made of Scarlet Letter, and a few movies have been attempted at some of Hawthorne's other works.

While not a comic book character by design, Hawthorne's character has an introduction style that befits typical comic book superhero conventions:

(See QUOTE 1)

Other lines stick out, such as:

"Who is this gray patriarch?" and more. Towards the end of the short story, Hawthorne-as-narrator promises a possible return of the character, beginning such with these lines:

(See QUOTE 2)

Some of these openings, quotes, and closings are not unlike typical lines used in modern-day superhero tales.
QUOTE 1
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"Suddenly, there was seen the figure of an ancient man, who seemed to have emerged from among the people, and was walking by himself along the center of the street, to confront the armed band. He wore the old Puritan dress, a dark cloak and a steeple-crowned hat, in the fashion of at least fifty years before, with a heavy sword upon his thigh, but a staff in his hand, to assist the tremulous gait of age..."
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--Hawthorne, narrating.

QUOTE 2
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"And who was the Gray Champion? Perhaps his name might be found in the records of that stern Court of Justice, which passed a sentence, too mighty for the age, but glorious in all after times, for its humbling lesson to the monarch and its high example to the subject..."
=========

The Gray Bar Hotel 

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This is what the slang name for the Hall Of Justice Jail in downtown Los Angelas was. ( H.O.J.J)
The jail was located on the upper floors of the city hall building. When the inmates would go to court via the under the street passage between the court building and the jail, one could see that name on the barred (grey) entranceway leading to the jail.
The inmates filed past the deputies leading the way into the Gray Bar Hotel.

the gray window 

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That moment for a man when the right amount of gray hair in your beard/hair starts to attract 20 year olds like lemmings. (Particularly true for Gay men. See also: Daddy)
Why are so many chickens crossing the road? Because I'm in the Gray Window.

The Gray Fox

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The Gray fox is the Leader of the Thieves Guild in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. He wears the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, which the Gray Fox stole 300 years ago from Nocturnal, the Patron Daedra of Thieves. The Guild refrains from talking about him, and some citizens believe he doesn't exist.
Guard: You-you're the Gray Fox! You're under arrest for...a bunch of things. I'll get promoted for this."

man in the gray suit 

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All varieties of sharks
Don't go surfing in the rain or you may get a visit from the man in the gray suit.

playing in the gray 

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(phrase) Name given to the activity of injecting heroin or perhaps fentanyl laced heroin where more than likely someone will overdose , lose consciousness, and will be in critical need of some type of intervention by others so that they might be brought back from the shadows of death and/or the spirit world. To become acquainted with such dangerous activity often includes a resurrectionist, who oftentimes is successful in bringing life back to the dying. The phrase gets its title from the color that the skin turns of those who have overdosed and are dying moments before they are returned to the land of the living.
Tabby, Toby, and Timmy got back to the crib with some decent H, flavored with a generous enough amount of fentanyl in it as well, certain to bring its host past the threshold of death…..so that all got their gear together and got to work. Turned out that Timmy got his in first cause he was the first to go down like deadweight, slobbering in such a way to scare those unacquainted with the game these friends were playing. Putting each other’s lives in the others’s hands this trip were playing in the gray and each one of them knew what the others looked like as they lay on death’s doorstep. Very scary to many of us tweekers.
More from Urban Dictionary

Overstand 

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To understand a topic or statement to the highest extent.
Leroy, after being told the tenth time by his sister, did overstand her idea of robbing the 7-11.
Overstand by Elf Eater March 23, 2003
Word of the Day on August 20, 2026

minimap 

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A map that mostly tells you where everything is
Friend 1: Follow me there is a player nearby
Friend 2: How do you know?
Friend 1: Minimap
minimap by LeWord January 13, 2015
Word of the Day on August 19, 2026

Pink Cloud

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12 step recovery jargon referring to someone new who talks about how great life is, now that they're sober. Usually meaning that the person is out of touch with reality.
The new guy seems pretty happy for a dude who has no job, no money and no family. He must be on a pink cloud.
Pink Cloud by toniwithaneye November 24, 2006
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Dotard 

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An aging individual who has long lost the ability to make rational sense.
That dotard is going to get us all blown up, if he doesn't calm down .
Dotard by anonymous September 22, 2017
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Chancla

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The deadliest weapon known to a Latin kid; a flying slipper/ flip-flop.
My mom hit me with a chancla.
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Striver 

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The striver is an interesting phenomenon that is seen across college campuses. In essence, the striver is an over-achiever who comes from a working or middle class family. He may be an immigrant. He may have been a slacker in HS who was "born again" into an academic wunderkind. Or he may just be an over-achiever who is keeping at it.

The striver is willing to sacrifice his social life at the expense of Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude. The striver is the guy who stays at the library long after you are gone. The striver is the guy who takes 30 credits/semester and considers anything below an A/4.0 failure. The striver doesn't work on campus, he is too busy finding ways to pad his resume instead of working retail or workstudy. The striver lets his grades pay his education by applying to ten scholarships a year.

The striver is a future Soros/Fullbright/Rhodes/Gates/Marshall/etc. fellow. The striver lives to study. For the striver, their fun comes from the rewards they expect to receive in return for their diligence. Be it Law School, B-School, academia, or politics. The striver seeks to find the American Dream through academic success.
Anthony was a striver. He transfered from a TTT to an IVY and graduated in 2 years. He studied his ass off and went to Penn Law. He got a Biglaw offer. But lost it all because of an unmoderated mesasgeboard.

Successful strivers:
- Barack Obama
- Harold Koh
Striver by URM Striver January 3, 2009
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