BARNSTORM

[Dr. Goodword]

• barnstorm •

Pronunciation: bahrn-storm • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, transitive or intransitive

Meaning: To tour rural areas, making stops at small towns along the way.

Notes: Today's word is quite topical in light of the barnstorming of the Democratic presidential candidates in the state of Pennsylvania. This, of course, makes them barnstormers. Barnstorm is related by one constituent to barnburner, but the meanings are unrelated; besides someone who burns down barns, a barnburner is an unexpectedly huge success.

In Play: Today's Good Word refers to any tour of small towns but it is used most frequently today in referring to campaigning politicians: "Corey Publican is giving one barnburner speech after another as he barnstorms the state." However, it may be applied to other campaigns through small towns and villages: "Bertha D. Blues (mother of the Blues Brothers) started her singing career barnstorming road houses in the small towns of the deep South."

Word History: he origin of today's Good Word is obvious: it is a compound of barn and storm. The history is rather interesting, though. It started out in the 1880s as a journalistic terms referring to theatrical groups that traveled through rural areas, sometimes, literally, playing in barns. By the 1890s its coverage had already been expanded to political campaigns through small towns. This is the sense in which it is used most widely today. In the 1920s, however, it was also used to refer to tours of stunt flyers in rural areas. Stunt flyers would fly over small towns to attract attention, then land a farmer's field, where they would collect money from those who followed them in exchange for a show or rides in the airplane.

[scw1217]

Some typos in this one, Good Dr., and all under the Word History section.

"he origin of today's Good Word"

"...as a journalistic terms..."

"...then land a farmer's field..." (That's one high flying field!)

And sorry, but there's the proofreader in me coming out. (That and my daughter and I just spend 2 days studying dangling modifiers in her English.)

[Stargzer]

"...then land a farmer's field..." (That's one high flying field!)

To say nothing of the wingspan, engine power, and runway space required to lift the field in the first place. That must have been one beaudacious bi-plane! Maybe he used an early version of a Spindizzy instead?

[sluggo]

I wanna hear more about the show in the airplane.
________________
I bet gailr's profile does too...

[scw1217]

I wanna hear more about the show in the airplane.
________________
I bet gailr's profile does too...

I missed that one!

[sluggo]

I wanna hear more about the show in the airplane.
________________
I bet gailr's profile does too...

I missed that one!

I figure if it's a plane big enough to land (and presumably launch) a farmer's field, it's gonna be a really big shew.

...in exchange for a show or rides in the airplane.

- I'm not sure I'd feel entirely secure taking off in a plane that big anyway, unless it's the Astral Plane (which raises further questions about just what that farmer's growing, not to mention giving a whole new meaning to the term cropdusting)

[gailr]

In the unlikely event of water landing, where are the emergency exiits on an astral plane?

[Stargzer]

Next to the astral projector and orthogonal to the silver-colored energetic connection.