Word Of The Day

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BALLADMONGER noun (bal-uhd-muhng-ger)

noun
1. an inferior poet.
2. a seller of ballads.


Quotes

I had rather be a kitten, and cry mew, Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers ...
--*William Shakespeare,*King Henry IV, Part 1, 1598


That sounds like a cheap balladmonger's gibe, Richard.
--*Norah Lofts,*The Lute Player, 1951



Origin

Shakespeare (1564-1616) is the first recorded author to use balladmonger, a compound noun that has nearly always had a belittling or depreciatory sense. Monger is a common Germanic word derived from Latin mangō, “a slave trader; a merchant who adorns or decorates inferior wares to make them look more attractive.” From the Old English period even until the 20th century, monger has had positive connotations, but beginning in the mid-16th century monger and its derivative compounds frequently have had a negative connotation. For example, ironmonger “a merchant or dealer in iron and hardware,” first recorded in the 12th century, is neutral, but Mark Twain’s coinage superstition-monger is certainly depreciatory. Balladmonger entered English in the late 16th century.

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ASTROTURFING noun (as-truh-turf-ing)

noun
1. the deceptive tactic of simulating grassroots support for a product, cause, etc., undertaken by people or organizations with an interest in shaping public opinion: In some countries astroturfing is banned, and this includes sponsored blog posts.
2. (initial capital letter) the act or process of installing Astroturf on a surface.


Quotes

An aide said Mr. Markey hoped to combat the tactic of astroturfing in which a professional lobbying effort is made to seem like a grass-roots movement.
--*Stephanie Strom,*"Coal Group Is Linked to Fake Letters on Climate Bill," New York Times, August 4, 2009


This isn’t usually the sort of behavior we think of when we talk about political “astroturfing”—that much-loathed, much-feared practice of faking grass-roots support online—but as more and more political discourse has moved to the Internet, the techniques have multiplied.
--*Caitlin Dewey,*"The three types of political astroturfing you'll see in 2016," Washington Post, September 26, 2016



Origin

Astroturfing was originally an Americanism, coined in 1974, meaning “to cover an area with Astroturf (a carpetlike covering made of vinyl and nylon to resemble turf, used for athletic fields, patios, etc.).” Twenty years later (1993) the current sense of Astroturfing “the deceptive tactic of simulating grassroots support for a product or cause, undertaken to influence public opinion” first appeared in Canadian and Australian newspapers.

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MERCURIAL adjective (mer-kyoo r-ee-uhl)

adjective
1. changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic: a mercurial nature.
2. animated; lively; sprightly; quick-witted.
3. pertaining to, containing, or caused by the metal mercury.
4. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the god Mercury.
5. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the planet Mercury.

noun
1. Pharmacology. a preparation of mercury used as a drug.


Quotes

A mercurial woman, elusive in her lifetime, Anne is still changing centuries after her death, carrying the projections of those who read and write about her.
--*Hilary Mantel,*"Author's Note," Bring Up the Bodies, 2012


Agriculture, which was most of all to have profited from inflation, on the theory that the mercurial crop-prices would rise faster than anything else, actually suffered the most of all ...
--*Sinclair Lewis,*It Can't Happen Here, 1935



Origin

The English adjective mercurial ultimately comes from the Latin adjective mercuriālis “of or pertaining to Mercurius“ (i.e., the god Mercury), whose original function was as god of commerce, transporters of goods (especially of grain), and shopkeepers. Latin also has the plural noun, derived from the adjective, Mercuriālēs, the name of a guild of merchants. Mercurius is related to merx (stem merc-) “goods, wares, commodities” (and the ultimate source of English merchant and merchandise). By classical times Mercury was completely identified with the Greek god Hermes—the messenger of the gods because he was fast-moving, and always on the move, negotiating, fast-talking, making deals, flimflamming, playing tricks. Mercurius also acquired the meaning “pertaining to the planet Mercury” (Stella Mercuriī, “Star of Mercury,” a translation of Greek astḕr toû Hermoû), the fastest moving of the planets. Mercurial entered English in the 14th century in the sense “pertaining to the planet Mercury.”

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TUB-THUMP verb (tuhb-thuhmp)

verb
1. Informal. to promote something or express opinions vociferously.


Quotes

Ever eager to tub-thump America's vast superiority, local civic chauvinists wanted our homegrown exposition to outstrip them all.
--*Jean Zimmerman,*Savage Girl, 2014


Whereas the United States and many other countries are finding pollution control easier to tub-thump with than to implement, Britain has the existing machinery of the Alkali Inspectorate, the Clean Air Acts and the river authorities whose ambitious programmes were well under way before the word environment was heard in Westminster.
--*Jon Tinker,*"Environmental politician," New Scientist, April 22, 1971



Origin

Tub-thump, a very rare word, is a back formation of tub-thumper “a vociferous supporter of a cause.” The verb tub-thump was coined by the British author Herman C. McNeile (1888–1937), whose pen name was “Sapper," and who wrote the series of thrillers whose hero was Bulldog Drummond. The only other author to use the verb tub-thump was the American poet and editor Ezra Pound (1885-1972). Tub-thump entered English in 1920.

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CARKING adjective (kahr-king)

adjective
1. Archaic. distressful.


Quotes

Laranger's answering smile showed no trace of the carking anxiety and deadly uncertainty which filled him at the thought of the future.
--*Joseph B. Ames,*"The Secret of Spirit Lake," Boys' Life, September 1927


If we get our victuals daily we can lift our voices gaily / In a song that chants farewell to carking care.
--*Anonymous,*"Cheer Up," The Rotarian, June 1920



Origin

Carking derives from Norman French carquier “to load, burden,” from Late Latin carcāre, carricāre “to load.” In Old French, i.e., Parisian French, the dialect spoken in the île de France (the region of France that includes Paris), Late Latin carcāre becomes chargier (which becomes charge in English). Norman French does not palatalize c (representing the sound k) before a, which Old French does; thus in English we have the doublets cattle (from Norman French) and chattel from Parisian French. Late Latin carcāre becomes cargar “to load” in Spanish, the source of English cargo. Carking entered English in the early 14th century.

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PANTOFLE noun (pan-tuh-fuhl)

noun
1. a slipper.
2. a cork-soled patten covering the forepart of the foot, worn in the 16th century.


Quotes

"I've lost a pantofle!" he whispered desperately.
--*Sally Watson,*The Outrageous Oriel, 2006


... your art / Can blind a jealous husband, and, disguised / Like a milliner or shoemaker, convey / A letter in a pantofle or glove, / Without suspicion, nay at his table ...
--*Philip Massinger,*The Emperor of the East, 1632



Origin

Pantofle “indoor shoe, slipper” comes from Middle French pantoufle, pantophle (and other spellings). The word occurs in other Romance languages, e.g., Occitan and Italian have pantofla (and other spellings), and Spanish has pantufla. Catalan changed the position of the l in original pantofla to plantofa under the influence of planta “sole (of the foot)”; compare English plantar (wart). Further etymology of pantofle is speculative. Pantofle entered English in the late 15th century.

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KEN noun (ken)

noun
1. knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception: an idea beyond one's ken.
2. range of sight or vision.

verb
1. Chiefly Scot. a. to know, have knowledge of or about, or be acquainted with (a person or thing). b. to understand or perceive (an idea or situation).
2. Scots Law. to acknowledge as heir; recognize by a judicial act.
3. Archaic. to see; descry; recognize.
4. British Dialect Archaic. a. to declare, acknowledge, or confess (something). b. to teach, direct, or guide (someone).
5. British Dialect. a. to have knowledge of something. b. to understand.


Quotes

Books, Mr. Taylor thought, should swim into one's ken mysteriously; they should appear all printed and bound, without apparent genesis; just as children are suddenly told that they have a little sister, found by mamma in the garden.
--*Arthur Machen,*The Hill of Dreams, 1907


Little things, trifles, slip out of one's ken, and one does not think it matter for surprise; but how so bulky a thing as the Seal of England can vanish away and no man be able to get track of it again--a massy golden disk ...
--*Mark Twain,*The Prince and the Pauper, 1881



Origin

English ken comes from the very widespread Proto-Indo-European root gnō- (and its variants gnē-, gen-, and gṇ-) “to know.” The variant gnō- appears in Greek gignṓskein (and dialect gnṓskein), Latin gnōscere, nōscere, and Slavic (Polish) znać “to know.” The variant gnē- forms cnāwan in Old English (and know in English); the variant gṇǝ- (with suffixed schwa) yields cunnan “to know, know how to, be able” in Old English (and can “be able” in English). Ken is recorded in English before 900.

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PURSE-PROUD adjective (purs-proud)

adjective
1. proud of one's wealth, especially in an arrogant or showy manner.


Quotes

London was still London ... heavy, clumsy, arrogant, purse-proud but not cheap; insular but large; barely tolerant of an outside world, and absolutely self-confident.
--*Henry Adams,*The Education of Henry Adams, 1918


The fellow is a bad neighbour, and I desire, to have nothing to do with him: but as he is purse-proud, he shall pay for his insolence ...
--*Tobias Smollett,*The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 1771



Origin

Purse-proud was first recorded in 1675–85.

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OMNISHAMBLES noun (om-nuh-sham-buh lz)

noun
1. Chiefly British Informal. a situation, especially in politics, in which poor judgment results in disorder or chaos with potentially disastrous consequences.


Quotes

The Budget, dubbed an 'omnishambles' by critics, marked the government's mid-term low point which even the triumph of the London Olympics was unable to dispel.
--*Michael Burton,*The Politics of Austerity, 2016


Iannucci calls these characters "well-meaning but damaged individuals" and by putting them into situations of omnishambles where everything is deeply at stake, he makes a stronger satire of Washington and more entertaining television.
--*Marc Edward Shaw,*"Veep's poetics of omnishambles," Politics and Politicians in Contemporary US Television, 2017



Origin

The first element of omnishambles, omni- “all,” is familiar in English in omnibus, omnipotent, omnivorous, and omniscient, derived from the Latin adjective omnis “all.” Shambles has a gorier history. In the 9th century the Old English noun scomol (spelled variously) simply meant “stool, footstool,” derived from Latin scamellum, scamillum “low stool.” By the 10th century the noun also meant “a counter or table for conducting business”; by the 14th century the word acquired the sense “table or counter for selling meat.” During the 16th century shambles came to mean “slaughterhouse; place of wholesale carnage.” Shambles in the sense “a mess, a ruin, scene of disorder” was originally an Americanism, first occurring in print in 1926.

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BOOKLORE noun (book-lawr)

noun
1. facts and information about books, especially about authors and circumstances of publication.
2. book learning.


Quotes

Besides reviving interest in booklore generally and bringing about the secularization of many of the great libraries, the influence of Humanism and of the Reformation also resulted in demands that libraries be opened to the public.
--*H. H. Bockwitz,*"Books--In Spite of Fire and Sword," The Rotarian, December 1936


Scattered among the review excerpts of a gallaxy [sic] of its titles are some fascinating bits and pieces of book lore. Do you know the origin of the words book, volume and tome? Who now is the most widely translated author?
--*Al,*"Bookwatch," New Scientist, May 1, 1975



Origin

One of the current meanings of booklore, “facts about books, their authors and publication,” applies mostly to the business of buying, trading, and selling books, especially of first editions and antiquarian books. The other meaning of booklore is as a much less common synonym of book learning. Wulfstan of York (died 1023), Archbishop of York and homilist (a writer or speaker of sermons, usually on Biblical or religious subjects) is the first writer to use booklore. Not surprisingly Wulfstan uses bóclár in the sense “book learning, especially religious book learning.” Booklore entered English in the early 11th century.