Taunt Terms: U.S.

More than a few of the many new words coined by exuberant Americans were created as insults. Like their counterparts abroad these terms lost their sting over time and became mainstream terminology. Gerrymander is one. By combining the last syllable of “salamander” with the surname of Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry gerrymander was meant to make fun of the convoluted Congressional districts drawn in 1812 while Gerry was the governor of Massachusetts. Hoosier was used to ridicule backwoods immigrants new to the new state of Indiana, but in time became the official, non-pejorative way to refer to Indianans. Before it became a name for underwear bloomer was introduced to deride American feminists such as Amelia Bloomer who, during the mid-nineteenth century, wore a type of garb that featured loose trousers worn beneath a billowy skirt. Hurling such insults inadvertently added words to the English language.