Mitty

Mitty is most commonly associated with Walter Mitty, the fictional character created by American author James Thurber. The character appears in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939), a short story about a timid, ordinary man whose inner life bursts with elaborate fantasies in which he is bold and heroic. In the story, Mitty's daydreams interrupt his routine errands with his domineering wife and other mundane tasks. The juxtaposition between mundane reality and ramped-up fantasies is a hallmark of Thurber's humor and critique of masculine bravado.

Publication and reception: The story was first published in The New Yorker in 1939 and quickly became one of Thurber's best-known works, contributing to a broader literary exploration of the gap between inner life and outward behavior. It has been widely anthologized and analyzed for its humor, psychology, and social observation.

Adaptations and cultural impact: The character inspired adaptations, including a 2013 film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film relocates the premise to a modern publishing context and expands the Mitty fantasy sequences into a visually sweeping adventure. The phrase "Walter Mitty moment" or "Mittyesque" has entered popular usage to describe someone who largely escapes into daydreams rather than acting in real life.

Other uses: Mitty also exists as a surname and is used in various media titles and as a character name in other works, but the Walter Mitty character remains the defining reference in English-language popular culture.