Bloviate

Bloviate

To bloviate means "to speak pompously and excessively," or "to expound ridiculously." A colloquial verb coined in the United States, it is commonly used with contempt to describe the behavior of politicians, academics, pundits or media "experts," sometimes called bloviators, who hold forth on subjects in an arrogant, tiresome way.

Some speculate that "bloviate" derives from adding a faux-Latin ending to the verb 'to blow' or boast, following a 19th-century fad of adding Latin-like affixes to ordinary words. However, others like William Safire claim that 'bloviate' comes from combining the words 'blow-hard' and 'deviation.'

Although 'bloviate' is listed in slang dictionaries as far back as the 19th century, the term was popularized by President Warren G. Harding in the 1920s. Famed for his poor English usage, Harding often used the word to describe his long, winding speaking style. The term dropped from popular usage following his presidency but was resurrected in the 1960s when it was sometimes used in reference to Harding.

It became widely spoken again in the 1990s. Today, it appears regularly in The New York Times, The New Yorker and the Washington Post.

The term is used frequently by Fox News commentator, Bill O'Reilly whose show, The O'Reilly Factor concludes with requests for email. The request for feedback, sometimes includes: "Please do not bloviate, [that's] my job."

'Bloviating' has taken on new life in the blogosphere, used derisively to identify and otherwise chide the most pompous of contributors to message boards and forums.

References

External links

* [http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-blo1.htm Bloviate: To speak pompously] — Worldwidewords.org
* [http://m-w.com/dictionary/bloviate Bloviate] —"Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • bloviate — (v.) 1857, Amer.Eng., a Midwestern word for to talk aimlessly and boastingly; to indulge in high falutin , according to Farmer (1890), who seems to have been the only British lexicographer to notice it. He says it was based on BLOW (Cf. blow)… …   Etymology dictionary

  • bloviate — lo vi*ate (bl[=o] v[i^]*[=a]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {bloviated} (bl[=o] v[i^]*[=a]*t[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {bloviating} (bl[=o] v[i^]*[=a]*t[i^]ng).] To orate pompously; used especially of politicians and news commentators. Frank Rich (N. Y.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bloviate — ☆ bloviate [blō′vē āt΄ ] vi. bloviated, bloviating [< ?] to speak at some length bombastically or rhetorically bloviation n …   English World dictionary

  • bloviate — intransitive verb ( ated; ating) Etymology: perhaps irregular from 1blow Date: circa 1879 to speak or write verbosely and windily • bloviation noun …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • bloviate — /bloh vee ayt /, v.i., bloviated, bloviating. to speak pompously. [Amer.; pseudo L alter. of BLOW to boast; pop. by W. G. HARDING] * * * …   Universalium

  • bloviate — verb To speak or discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner …   Wiktionary

  • bloviate — v. talk a lot, chatter, prattle, blow hot air (slang) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • bloviate — [ bləʊvɪeɪt] verb US talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way. Derivatives bloviation noun Origin C19: perh. from blow1 …   English new terms dictionary

  • bloviate — blo·vi·ate …   English syllables

  • bloviate — blo•vi•ate [[t]ˈbloʊ viˌeɪt[/t]] v. i. at•ed, at•ing. cvb to speak pompously • Etymology: 1850–55, amer.; pseudo L alter. of blow to boast; popularized by W. G. Harding …   From formal English to slang

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