Morons

I was reminded today that POTUS is fond of calling people morons, which prompted the thought that moron was not derived from the name of an Italian showman, that is to say a showman showing off some quack remedy for something or other involving headsets and electricity. A word which was current in my natal family, but which does not seem to be used much now, at least not in this country: maybe this was down to that family's North American connection.

First stop, Bing, which reminded me that the only notable Italian moron was the 16th century Mannerist painter, Giovanni Battista Moroni. Not a quack at all.

Second stop, the archive, which turned up reference 1, which tells me that my thought was, on this occasion, correct. Which led in turn to the oxymoronicty of 'Epicurian pessimists', references 2 and 3.

Third stop, Webster's at reference 4, an oxymoron in itself, where the word gets a column inch, confirming the story in the snap above and including some interesting examples of usage. A word which is a little more than a hundred years old and is already dropping out of everyday usage. And I dare say that today's educational psychologists have come up with some new euphemism to cover the case.

Fourth stop, OED at reference 5, where the word is present as having once been the name of a sort of salamander. The salamanders being a family which includes the newts sometimes present in our own garden. A very short entry. While the rather more recent Shorter Oxford has a similarly short entry covering the educational usage from the US. Salamanders missing.

And so to breakfast.

PS: OED must have used much heavier paper than modern textbooks. The 1,000 or so pages runs to just over 7cm, excluding the boards.

References

Reference 1: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2011/01/pedantry.html.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism.

Reference 4: Webster's Third New International Dictionary - 1971.

Reference 5: A new English dictionary on historical principles: Volume VI, Part II, M and N - edited by Sir James A H Murray, Henry Bradley, W A Craigie - 1908.