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Panjandrum was coined in 1755 by the English actor and playwright Samuel Foote (1720-1777) to test the memory of the actor Charles Macklin, who claimed to be able to memorize and repeat anything said to him (it was one of several inventions in the same vein that Foote put to him): "And there were present...the Joblillies, and the Garyulies, and the Grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top." It did not spread into general use until the 19th century.
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