WINGNUT

[Dr. Goodword]

• wingnut •

Pronunciation: wing-nêt • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A bolt nut with wings to allow tightening with the fingers, a thumbnut. 2. An Asian walnut tree whose nuts have wing-like projections. 3. (British slang) A person with protruding ears. 4. (Slang) A crazy person. 5. (Slang) A fanatical fan of any sports team with "wing" in its name (e.g. the Detroit Red Wings).

Notes: The number of meanings for this relatively recent word indicates how unsure we are of how to use it, other than in the mechanical sense (No. 1). The political meaning is odd since it makes sense in reference to any extremist, that is, a right-wing nut or a left-wing nut. However, it is used almost exclusively to refer to conservative extremists. (Liberal extremists are referred to, even more oddly, as moonbats—don't ask.) Dictionaries generally consider this compound two separate words: wing nut. We think it a simple compound with a single main accent.

In Play: This word is a failure in that it was intended as a pejorative term for conservative extremists but most take it humorously: "Many people think that Fox News is a bowl of wingnuts." No one is offended by this bit of US slang: "Dominic is such a wingnut that he had a picture of John McCain painted on his house." It would be easier to take down had he attached it with wingnuts (meaning No. 1).

Word History: Wingnut has been around since the turn of the 20th century though usually spelled as two words. The sense of "crazy person" was first recorded in 1989. Wingnut in the political sense began appearing in the early 21st century in liberal blogs and newsletters. The word wing comes from Old Norse vængr "wing" and is akin to wind. Nut is related to German Nuss and Latin nux (nuc-s), visible in the root of English nucleus. (Today we thank the wordnut, Jerry Gault, whatever his politics, for suggesting this new word for us.)

[Stargzer]

... (Liberal extremists are referred to, even more oddly, as moonbats—don't ask.) ...

That's OK, we can look it up for ourselves!

Moonbat (also "barking moonbat" and "moonbat crazy") is a term often used currently in U.S. politics as a political epithet referring to anyone that is believed to be liberal or on the left. "Wingnut" (or "right wing nut") is frequently preferred as the analogous epithet aimed at the political right[1], as is "Nutbag" (or "right wing nutbag"). ...

History of use
According to an article by self-described New York Times "language maven" William Safire, the term was first used by science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein in 1947.[1] Heinlein used the term in a 1947 short story, "Space Jockey", as the name of the third stage of a rocket bound for the moon. Descriptions of bat-like people on the moon were part of the 1835 Great Moon Hoax.


Current use
According to Safire, "The prevailing put-down of right-wing bloggers is wingnuts; this has recently been countered by the vilification of left-wing partisans who use the Web as moonbats..."


The term has been used by three columnists at the Boston Herald newspaper. Howie Carr uses the term regularly in his columns....

Wingnut is not to be confused with a wing-it part, which is what mechanics like my brother call the parts left over when they've put your car back together, because you wing it over your shoulder to get rid of it.