This week’s theme
Words with a bossy past

This week’s words
gardyloo
hallelujah
dekko
noli me tangere
lampoon

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(lam-POON)

MEANING:

noun: A biting satire directed against a person or institution.
verb tr.: To ridicule or satirize.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French lampon, from lampons (let us drink), imperative of slang lamper (to gulp down), from laper (to lap up). Earliest documented use: 1645.

NOTES:

The word lampoon originated in 17th-century France. Imagine revelers raising their cups to the chants of “Lampons!” (Let us drink!). And then unleashing barbs against politicians, clergy, or anyone unlucky enough to be the subject of their satire.

USAGE:

“Others have felt free enough to vilify Putin and ridicule and lampoon him in a way that almost nobody would have dared to a few months ago.”
Matthew Fisher; Putin’s Fall from Grace; The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Mar 2, 2012.

See more usage examples of lampoon in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: