Wordsmith.org
Posted By: AnnaStrophic wwftd, priceless! - 12/07/04 07:53 PM
For y'all esteemed eminentos who still do not see or subscribe to tsuwm's 'Worthless Word for the Day,' here's an example of what you're missing (from Friday):

the worthless word for the day is: eminento

[modification of Italian eminente]
an eminent person
(but often used as a disparaging epithet)

Hendrik Hertzberg, writing in The New Republic, attacked [R. Emmett]
Tyrrell's "verbal dandyism-Chicken McMencken, perhaps":

The formula is simple. First, select a person to attack. If possible, refer
to him or her as the Hon. insert surname, the Rev. insert surname, or Dr.
insert surname. Second, call the person a nasty name, either a heavily
sarcastic one (esteemed eminento, sonorous pontificator, distinguished
scholar) or simply a jeering one - bellyacher, buffoon, dolt, dunderhead,
galoot, gasbag, greenhorn, half-wit, idiot, imbecile, jackass, loony, moron,
nincompoop, pinhead, poltroon, popinjay, quack, rube, sap, simpleton, snot,
windbag, wretch, yahoo, yokel, or zealot. Third, add an adjective
(optional). Brazen, fuliginous, gaseous, gimcrack, maudlin, meretricious,
piffling, portentous, sophomoric, puerile - any of these will do. Fourth,
accuse the person of engaging in bibble-babble, claptrap, flapdoodle,
flumdiddle, hokum, moonshine, pishposh, rumble-bumble, pronunciamentos, or
tosh. Finally, work in a reference to the United States as "the Republic."
You will soon be writing, or programming your computer to write, sentences
such as this one, from page 21 [of The Liberal Crack-Up]: "There have
always been whistle-brained pontificators at large in the Republic, all
promising a New Age full of wonder and kookery."

http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd

(which reminds me, does anyone have a copy of those Shakespearian insults handy?)


Posted By: Jackie Re: wwftd, priceless! - 12/09/04 02:50 AM
But, but, but...do we have to do it all in alphabetical order?

Posted By: tsuwm Re: wwftd, priceless! - 12/09/04 03:21 AM
no, no.. go back and read the example! (actually, he doesn't seem to follow much of his guidance.)

Posted By: Jackie Re: wwftd, priceless! - 12/09/04 12:59 PM
But, but--all the selections here are in a-order:
a jeering one - bellyacher, buffoon, dolt, dunderhead,
galoot, gasbag, greenhorn, half-wit, idiot, imbecile, jackass, loony, moron,
nincompoop, pinhead, poltroon, popinjay, quack, rube, sap, simpleton, snot,
windbag, wretch, yahoo, yokel, or zealot. Third, add an adjective
(optional). Brazen, fuliginous, gaseous, gimcrack, maudlin, meretricious,
piffling, portentous, sophomoric, puerile - any of these will do. Fourth,
accuse the person of engaging in bibble-babble, claptrap, flapdoodle,
flumdiddle, hokum, moonshine, pishposh, rumble-bumble, pronunciamentos, or
tosh.

Ack--why all the weird spacing?
And--is whistle-brained the same as airhead?
EDIT--even weirder (to me): when I copied the above, and now again as I'm editing it, the quote has about 3 times as many lines as show up in public; many with just one word.

Posted By: tsuwm Re: wwftd, priceless! - 12/09/04 04:19 PM
yes, all of his suggestions are indeed alphabetized (within categories), but when he puts together an example sentence he doesn't much follow his own suggestions. is what I was pointing out. there.

Posted By: Jackie Re: wwftd, priceless! - 12/10/04 01:58 PM
tsuwm, come here a minute...

© Wordsmith.org