MovieChat Forums > How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) Discussion > Is 'grinch' a tag or specie?

Is 'grinch' a tag or specie?

posted 5 days ago by TM1617-2 (660)
1 reply | jump to latest

The word 'grinch' has a harsh and hard sound, so it works as fictional slang for someone who bears the attitude of the titular character. However, it could also be what the guy literally is. He is called 'The Grinch', so Grinch is not his name. If the green person is a grinch, then not all of his specie are monsters because he is presented as a deviation. He looks a bit like a reptile, and if he is, then perhaps he has just made a notorious title for himself. Whatever The Grinch is probably does not biologically exist, but within the story, he has to be some type of creature.

[–] strntz (12664) 5 days ago

A Grinch appears to be a species by the way he's referred, but nothing more is known about this particular one who is never called by name, only as "Grinch". Are all Grinches mean? Undetermined because we have but one example and Geisel didn't expand on him nor did he write other stories about other Grinches.

If this was an old German fable, maybe it would be a timber wolf who stole Christmas in the exact same manner - such as The Wolf Who Stole Christmas where the character would be referred to as a wolf but with no proper name. But since the people in Whoville don't exactly look 100 percent human, this "Grinch" could be anything as anything goes according to Seuss.