derring-do ˌder-iŋ-ˈdü , ˌde-riŋ- noun
: brave and heroic feats
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The word derring-do has appeared in 15 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Dec. 17 in “Up and Away: ‘The Aeronauts’ and Hot-Air Balloons in the Movies” by Amy Nicholson:
“Five Weeks in a Balloon” was a financial success that afforded Verne the freedom to quit his job as a stockbroker and launch his Extraordinary Travels series that would go on to include “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” and “The Mysterious Island,” tales of derring-do that would become the foundation of science fiction and fantasy filmmaking, from Georges Méliès’s “A Trip to the Moon” to today’s audiences hooting as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson straddles a giant bee.
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