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Tuesday word: Mugwump

Tuesday, Jul. 22, 2025

Mugwump (noun)
mugwump [muhg-wuhmp]

noun
1. a Republican who refused to support the party nominee, James G. Blaine, in the presidential campaign of 1884.
2. a person who is unable to make up their mind on an issue, especially in politics; a person who is neutral on a controversial issue.

Other Word Forms
mugwumpish adjective
mugwumpery noun
mugwumpism noun
mugwumpian adjective

Origin: First recorded in 1830–35, artificial 19th-century revival of Massachusett ( English spelling) mugquomp, syncopated form of muggumquomp “war leader” (equivalent to Proto-Algonquian (unattested) memekw- perhaps “swift” + (unattested) -a·pe·w “man”)

Example Sentences
Telford Taylor, a mugwump Democrat, remarks that though good intentions may be mitigating circumstances, they do not negate the fact of a crime, if one occurred.
From New York Times

Indeed, the infamous mugwump was predictably dragged on social media after news of the decision broke.
From Salon

This year’s list included “blithering,” ”gauche” and “mugwump,” which refers to a person who remains aloof or independent - especially from party politics.
From Washington Times

This year’s list included “blithering,” ”gauche” and “mugwump,” which refers to a person who remains aloof or independent — especially from party politics.
From Seattle Times

It's not everyday you get called a mugwump.
From BBC

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Monday Word: Goyle

goyle [or goyal] [gȯi(ə)l]

noun

dialectal, England: a steep narrow valley : RAVINE, GULLY

examples

1. These, though known for their valour and their breed, were whimpering in a cluster at the head of a deep dip or goyal, as we call it, upon the moor. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

2. In front, where a goyle runs up to a hollow of the hill, the ground has been cleared of wood, and the forest of tall teazle-tops is full of goldfinches, flying from seed-head to seed-head, too tame to mind the noise or care for anything but their breakfast. The Naturalist on the Thames 1882

origins

Unknown. Its earliest known use dates back to the early 1600s, with the first recorded instance in 1617 by John Lane. The word is possibly derived from the term "gool," which also refers to a gully or depression. Found (initially) in the dialects of Somerset and Devon.

goyle

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Sunday Word: Magniloquent

magniloquent [mag-nil-uh-kwuhnt]

adjective:
speaking or expressed in a lofty or grandiose style; pompous; bombastic; boastful

(click to enlarge)
Examples:

His star power is based on brains and brawn; he can recite magniloquent phrases while also giving the impression that he could fillet an enemy, Jason Bourne style, armed with only a Bic pen (Jody Rosen, Why Is Matt Damon Shilling for Crypto?, New York Times, February 2022)

The revealing, magniloquent letter is one of more than 1,600 records and documents relating to George IV from the Royal Archives published online for the first time. (Mark Brown, Letters shed light on lovelorn prince who became George IV, The Guardian, October 2019)

In such magniloquent language did the doctor describe the very simple process of fixing a door to the top landing of the house, which gave her the floor to herself. (Edgar Wallace, The Hand of Power)

His magniloquent western name was the moral umbrella upon which he balanced the fine problem of his finances. He was widely respected. (James Joyce, Dubliners)

It was empty, magniloquent, abstract, flatulent, pretentious, confused, and sub-human. I could have wept salt tears. But I couldn't do anything else; the young man wanted a clean heart and a new spirit, not a little top-dressing. (Logan Pearsall Smith, Unforgotten Years)

Origin:

1650s, a back-formation from magniloquence, or else from Latin magniloquentia 'lofty style of language,' from magniloquus 'pompous in talk, vaunting, boastful,' from combining form of magnus 'great' (from PIE root meg- 'great') + -loquus 'speaking,' from loqui 'to speak' (from PIE root tolkw- 'to speak'). Wycliffe (late 14c) translates Latin magniloquam as 'speechy'. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

Magnus means 'great' in Latin; loqui is a Latin verb meaning 'to speak.' Combine the two and you get magniloquus, the Latin predecessor of magniloquent. English-speakers started using magniloquent in the 1600s, despite having had its synonym grandiloquent since the 1500s. (Grandiloquent comes from Latin grandiloquus, which combines loqui and grandis, another word for 'great' in Latin.) Today, these synonyms continue to exist side by side and to be used interchangeably, though grandiloquent is the more common of the two. (Merriam-Webster)

Current Mood: blah

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Tuesday word: Harrumph

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Harrumph (verb)
harrumph [huh-ruhmf]

verb (used without object)
1. to clear the throat audibly in a self-important manner.: The professor harrumphed good-naturedly.
2. to express oneself gruffly.

Origin: First recorded in 1935–40; imitative

Example Sentences
Trump is far from the first US president to harrumph at Europe's reluctance to do more for, as well as spend more on, its own defence.
From BBC

"Trousers," exclaims the Prince Andrew character, with a fruity harrumph, as though taken aback by a female interviewer wearing trousers.
From BBC

I humored her harrumphs when my best friend and I waited in line for hours to see the second batch in the late 1990s.
From Los Angeles Times

They treated an audience that knows how to harrumph to a smorgasbord of how things should be done.
From Washington Post

In one harrumph, Trump charged that no incumbent president since 1960 had failed to win the general election after winning Iowa, Florida and Ohio.
From Washington Post

Now YOU come up with a sentence (or fic? or graphic?) that best illustrates the word.

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Monday: kerning

kerning [kur-ning]

noun

1. the setting of two letters closer together than is usual by removing space between them. Kerning can also set the letter glyphs wider apart, if the layout designer so chooses. The most commonly met kerning tightens the glyphs up (by a varying amount for each pair of glyphs, as adjusted by the typographer) to make text more readable.

examples

1. The finishing airbrushing of an illo, the final tweak or kerning of an art headline, was important to him.
"Pacific NW magazine honors the life and work of art director David Miller" Seattle Times 12/16/22

2. It highlights just how much thought goes into making sure the thickness, kerning, and size of a font is optimal for the environment where it’s viewed. "How to change your font in Slack" The Verge 09/11/20

origins

French carne corner, from French dialect, from Latin cardin-, cardo hinge

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Sunday Word: Exculpate

exculpate [ek-skuhl-peyt, ik-skuhl-peyt]

verb:
to clear from a charge of guilt or fault; free from blame; vindicate

Examples:

He devises a daring, sometimes distracting but ultimately inspired format by saving his commentary for footnotes that contextualize, teasingly contradict and occasionally exculpate Rodgers from her unsparing self-assessments. (Charles McNulty, Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words, Los Angeles Times, November 2022)

An amnesty could exculpate as many as 1,400 activists and politicians involved in the attempt to separate Catalonia from Spain. (Spanish Socialists and Catalan Junts reach deal for government support, amnesty, Reuters, November 2023)

In a perverse circular logic, the crime itself can come to seem like the clearest evidence of the condition that is held up to exculpate the mother - and also like its own form of punishment. (Eren Orbey, A Husband in the Aftermath of His Wife's Unfathomable Act, Reuters, October 2024)

Cato attacked him for this, and Lucilius ran the risk of losing his tribunate, and many of the friends of Pompeius came forward to exculpate him and said that he did not seek that office or wish for it. (Plutarch, Lives)

Origin:

'to clear from suspicion of wrong or guilt,' 1650s, from Medieval Latin exculpatus, past participle of exculpare, from Latin ex culpa, from ex 'out of' + culpa ablative of culpa 'blame, fault.' (Online Etymology Dictionary)

There's no need to say 'my bad' if you're unfamiliar with exculpate; while the word is far from rare, it is most often encountered in formal writing in reference to the clearing of someone of alleged fault or guilt, as in 'they were exculpated of any wrongdoing.' You may be more familiar with a pair of terms that, like exculpate, come from the Latin noun culpa, meaning 'blame' or 'guilt.' One is the adjective culpable, used to describe someone deserving of condemnation or blame. The other is the Latin phrase mea culpa, which translates directly as 'through my fault' and refers to an acknowledgement of personal fault or error that is more formal than, well, 'my bad.' (Merriam-Webster)