Today's Word "Mugwump"
Published in Vocabulary
mugwump \MUHG-whump\ (noun) - A person who acts independently, whose position is distinct from all other positions on an issue; in particular, a politician who acts independent of any party. A frog that sits on a fence with his mug on one side and his 'wump' on the other? Just another urban legendfolk etymology out of control.
"Janice, you're just a mugwump; you never want to do what the rest of the family does."
The word began in the Natick (Algonquin) language as mugquomp or mugwomp "captain, leader, chief," probably from mogki "great" + -omp "man." In the 17th and 18th centuries it was widely used by the European settlers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Long Island to refer to Indian chieftains. By the 19th century it had become a term of derision in that same area, referring to someone who thinks himself important (a panjandrum, to use an earlier Word of the Day). It might have become extinct had the press not adopted it in 1884 to refer to Republicans who bolted the party and refused to support presidential candidate James G. Blaine. The general public then embraced it for its funny sound while independents took it as a term of honor, thus bringing us its current meaning.
Comments