#1: Loblolly
Definition: lout; a stupid, rude or awkward person
About the Word:
Loblolly was originally a British word for "a thick gruel." Riffing on this,
apparently, Americans later used the word to refer to an ugly, boggy mess.
It's unclear how the word developed its insulting sense, but perhaps the evolution was similar to the current use of words like thick and dense to mean "stupid."
apparently, Americans later used the word to refer to an ugly, boggy mess.
It's unclear how the word developed its insulting sense, but perhaps the evolution was similar to the current use of words like thick and dense to mean "stupid."
#2: Blatherskite
Definition: a person who talks foolishly at length
About the Word:
It's alteration of the Scottish compound blather skate (skate means "a contemptible person").
The word appears in a mid-seventeenth century Scottish ballad called Maggie Lauder in which the fair maiden bids her would-be suitor, "Begone ye hallanshaker / Jog on your gait, ye blatherskate ..." [Get lost, you vagabond / Be on your way, you blatherskate ...].
#3: Succubus
Definition: a demon assuming female form in order to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep
About the Word:
A succubus is the female version of an incubus – a demon in male form who has sexual intercourse with sleeping females.
Originating in medieval European folklore, with similar beings in many cultures, succubi appear in modern fiction, video games, and South Park.
As a more practical insult, the word is also used figuratively, as in this Jezebel.com headline: "This Week In Tabloids: Courtney the Evil Succubus Maneater Will Devour Bachelor Ben."
#4: Poltroon
Definition: a spiritless coward
About the Word:
P.G. Wodehouse was fond enough of this sixteenth-century term to use it in several of his books. For example:
"Archie ... was no poltroon, and had proved the fact on many occasions during the days when the entire German army seemed to be picking on him personally ..." (Indiscretions of Archie, 1921)
Poltroon comes from the Latin pullus, meaning "young of an animal."
#5: Cacafuego
Definition: a swaggering braggart or boaster
About the Word:
The Cacafuego was a Spanish ship captured in 1579 by the English admiral Sir Francis Drake.
The word may have developed its insulting sense because some sailors – either the ones who lost the ship or the ones who won it – did some serious bragging.
Cacafuego, by the way, comes from the Spanish word fuego, meaning "fire," and, ultimately, the Latin cacare, meaning (ahem) "to void as excrement." The word probably referred to the ship's cannon fire.
#6: Crepehanger
Definition: killjoy; someone who takes a pessimistic view of things
About the Word:
Black crepe fabric was once an important part of mourning ritual. It was sewn into dresses and veils, wrapped in bands around hats and harms, and draped over doors.
We can speculate that to those who started using this insult, acrepehanger was a “killjoy” almost in a literal sense – the sort of person who took pleasure in a funeral.
#7: Harridan
Definition: shrew; an ill-tempered, scolding woman
About the Word: Unlike most words on this list, harridan is still used with some frequency.
For example, a review of the movie Black Swan describes the main character's mother as, "a real piece of work, an unhappy stage harridan out of Tennessee Williams whose dreams for her daughter are etched into the bitter, melting beauty of her aging face." (Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly, December 30, 2010)
Harridan may be a modification of the French haridelle, meaning "old horse" or "gaunt woman."
#8: Slubberdegullion
Definition: a dirty rascal; scoundrel; wretch
About the Word:
This seventeenth-century coinage even sounds nasty; the word's probable history backs it up. Slubber, an English dialectal word, means "stain" or "sully," and most likely comes from an obsolete Dutch word meaning "to walk through mud or mire."
#9: Pilgarlic
Definition: a man looked upon with humorous contempt or mock pity
About the Word:
Originally pilled garlic (pilledmeans "peeled"), pilgarlicrefers to "a bald head" or "a bald-headed man," which it resembles. The mocking or humorous aspect followed.
#10: Chawbacon
Definition: bumpkin; hick
About the Word:
The dialectal chaw means "chew."
The current culinary prestige of bacon doesn't make "bacon-chewer" seem like much of an insult, butchawbacon came into use back when bacon had a far humbler status.
#11: Cockalorum
Definition: a boastful and self-important person; a strutting little fellow
About the word:
If cockalorum suggests a crowing cock, that's because cockalorumprobably comes fromkockeloeren – an obsolete Dutch dialect verb meaning "to crow."
#12: Lickspittle
Definition: a fawning subordinate; a suck-up
About the word:
Lick plus spittle says it all: someone who licks another person's spit is pretty low indeed. Incidentally,lickspittle keeps company with bootlicker ("someone who acts obsequiously").
#13: Smellfungus
Definition: an excessively faultfinding person
About the word:
The original Smelfungus was a character in an 18th century novel. Smelfungus, a traveler, satirized the author of Travels through France and Italy, a hypercritical guidebook of that time.
#14: Snollygoster
Definition: an unprincipled but shrewd person
About the word:
The story of its origin remains unknown, butsnollygoster was first used in the nasty politics of 19th century America. One definition of the word dates to 1895, when a newspaper editor explained "a snollygoster is a fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles...."
#15: Ninnyhammer
Definition: ninny; simpleton, fool
About the word:
The word ninny is probably a shortening and alteration of "an innocent" (with the "n" from "an" getting transferred to the noun) and "hammer" adds punch. Writers who have used the word include J.R.R. Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: "You're nowt but a ninnyhammer, Sam Gamgee."
#16: Mumpsimus
Definition: a stubborn person who insists on making an error in spite of being shown that it is wrong
About the word:
Supposedly, this insult originated with an illiterate priest who said mumpsimusrather than sumpsimus("we have taken" in Latin) during mass. When he was corrected, the priest replied that he would not change his old mumpsimus for his critic's newsumpsimus.
#17: Milksop
Definition: an unmanly man; a mollycoddle (a pampered or effeminate boy or man)
About the word:
Milksop literally means "bread soaked in milk." Chaucer was among the earliest to use milksop to describe an unmanly man (presumably one whose fiber had softened). By the way, the modern cousin of milksop,milquetoast, comes from Caspar Milquetoast, a timid cartoon character from the 1920s.
#18: Hobbledehoy
Definition: an awkward, gawky young man
About the word:
Hobbledehoy rhymes with boy: that's an easy way to remember whom this 16th century term insults. Its origin is unknown, although theories about its ancestry include hobble and hob (a term for "a clownish lout").
#19: Pettifogger
Definition: shyster; a lawyer whose methods are underhanded or disreputable
About the word:
The petti part of this word comes from petty, meaning "insignificant" (from the French petit, "small").
As for fogger, it once meant "lawyer" in English. According to one theory, it may come from "Fugger," the name of a successful family of 15th- and 16th-century German merchants and financiers. Germanic variations of "fugger" were used for the wealthy and avaricious, as well as for hucksters.
#20: Mooncalf
Definition: a foolish or absentminded person
About the word:
The original mooncalf was a false pregnancy, a growth in the womb supposedly influenced by a bad moon.Mooncalf then grew a sense outside the womb: simpleton. It also morphed into a literary word for a deformed monster. For instance, in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Stephano entreats Caliban, "Mooncalf, speak once in your life, if thou beest a goodmooncalf."