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ninnyhammer
Jul. 5th, 2024 07:11 amninnyhammer (NIN-ee-ham-er) - n., a foolish person, a simpleton.
Sometimes, by extension, with a connotation of a cuckold. This is late Elizabethan slang of uncertain origin, which largely went out of use during the early 20th century -- a pretty good run. Though we don't know for sure, the ninny- part is probably related to ninny with the same meaning (likely a short form of innocent, in its outdated meaning of a person lacking in intelligence or sense), which would make the -hammer some sort of emphatic suffix, but might be related to hammer-headed in an obscure sense of a person who was dull-witted or stupid or hammer in a dialect sense of a clumsy person. Uncertain is whether ninny is related to the nin- of nincompoop, largely because that its origin just as unclear.
Bonus word: nutmegs, which interestingly predates nuts2.
And that wraps up this third installment of words from Green's. Back next week with the usual random assortment, though fair warning, posting may be intermittent next week (and possibly after) due to other obligations.
---L.
Sometimes, by extension, with a connotation of a cuckold. This is late Elizabethan slang of uncertain origin, which largely went out of use during the early 20th century -- a pretty good run. Though we don't know for sure, the ninny- part is probably related to ninny with the same meaning (likely a short form of innocent, in its outdated meaning of a person lacking in intelligence or sense), which would make the -hammer some sort of emphatic suffix, but might be related to hammer-headed in an obscure sense of a person who was dull-witted or stupid or hammer in a dialect sense of a clumsy person. Uncertain is whether ninny is related to the nin- of nincompoop, largely because that its origin just as unclear.
Bonus word: nutmegs, which interestingly predates nuts2.
And that wraps up this third installment of words from Green's. Back next week with the usual random assortment, though fair warning, posting may be intermittent next week (and possibly after) due to other obligations.
---L.
