[4], But is this folk etymology actually true? The Nimrod Expedition despite its name was not a mission for dummies. This entry was posted in History and tagged August Johannes Jagear, Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny A Wild Hare, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Edward Elgar, Elmer Fudd, Ernest Shackleton, Nimrod ship, The Nimrod Expedition. It's a stretch, but it could be surmised that the modern meaning originated here, mainly because the Tower was deemed a foolish venture for Nimrod. But you never hear it used that way any longer. Nimrod, the word, soon became synonymous with a bumbling fool, like Fudd's character. machlangsam: Son of Cusha mighty hunter andpothead or pot farmer? The same old Nimrod. He would eventually praise the small schooner as sturdy and reliable.. Why, look at you! greatgildersleeve: [W.C. Fields] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLQ1VGK1wQ) used that reference beforehand. A chase scene involves a path completely under the snow that ends when Elmer crashes into a pine tree. Interestingly enough, the Mesopotamians had a war god whose name was Nintura, who was also known as a mighty hunter. 183 He's in love with her. A nimrod was someone who was held in high regard. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Nimrod "Nim" reptile on TV's "Surface" Nimrod the Scarlet Sentinel a villain on TV's "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" Aetius Nimrod the infamous and evil "axe man" in "The Silver Eye", a webcomic by Laura Hollingsworth; Nimrod insult created by Bugs Bunny; Nimrod 1997 album by the band Green Day "Nimrod" the 9th of Elgar's 'Enigma Variations' (Amateur theories include its occasional use in Bugs Bunny cartoon episodes featuring rabbit-hunting Elmer Fudd as a foil; its possible ironic use, among hunters, for a clumsy member of their fraternity; or a stereotype of deer hunters by the non-hunting population in the U.S.). Heh heh heh heh! The same old Nimrod. Oldskoolguitar: Nimrod became ironic, just like when calling some Enistein. How did the word "copacetic" come into use? (LogOut/ It had to be built stronger and faster than others, Vanderbilt instructed. For example, Washington Irving writes in his 1835A Tour on the Prairies: I have observed that the wary and experienced huntsman and traveller of the prairies is always sparing of his horse, when on a journey; never, except in emergency, putting him off a walk. "Nimrod" was a person mentioned in the Hebrew bible. How did "sand" come to mean courage/pluck? An amusing piece, Elgar said referring to his friend and subject, August Johannes Jagear, a music publisher and accomplished violinist. A Warner Brothers cartoon does play a role in the word's history, but it's not Bugs Bunny, but rather Daffy Duck, who utters the word. It only takes a minute to sign up. Not a change in the meaning of the word. According to Merriam-Webster, the word's original meaning is "a descendant of Ham represented in Genesis as a mighty hunter and a king of Shinar". As he wrote in "The Ongoing Tumult in English Usage," an essay in Garner's Modern English Usage, Bugs used "nimrod" to taunt his nemesis Elmer Fudd (a hunter, no coincidence): "What a moron! Standing near the peak of his tower and watching his former subjects "babel" at one another, he knew he could not winso he turned, looked up, and "SHOOK HIS FIST AT GOD". Intergalactic space traveler on a five-year mission. So calling a stupid person a Nimrod makes sense. However, etymonline.com isnt convinced by Bugs Bunny changing the meaning: >>It came to mean geek, klutz by 1983 in teenager slang, for unknown reasons. Later, Masudi lists Nimrod as the first king of Babylon, and states that he dug great canals and reigned 60 years. This understated comment nails it. sparrowxc: That is considered one possibility, [but many discount it.](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nimrod). No I dont know how his nose and tooth got broken on graduation night!! This is a disclaimer that you will be supporting this channel if you use the following links. The fact that no one died in the expedition was even better. @J. Taylor Thank you for being the first to respond. (old). This "frequently ironic" may be the transitional clue between the great hunter of old and the stupid or contemptible person of today, first quoted by the OED in 1933. NYScott: Wait, does that mean the color [maroon](https://youtu.be/Y8GGpYFmkYI) isnt dumb? It was impossible to retain them in the sobriety of a march, or to keep them to the line. Likehow on *earth* did this poor guys name come to mean what it does? As it happens, Nimrod is also given as one amongst two whole-column-lengths of synonyms for penis in Farmer and Henley's 1891 Slang and its analogues past and present. Review invitation of an article that overly cites me and the journal, New external SSD acting up, no eject option. Hecht/Fowler are doing it; Bugs is doing it. Then in 1940, thanks to cartoon character named Bugs Bunny, the meaning of the word changed forever. I have seen a cartoon where Elmer Fudd gets called "nimrod". I can't say with 100% certainty that tchrist exists: maybe it's just a fake name created by another user on here to hide his excessive number of posts. As a kid, I thought those British just didnt know it was an insult/slang. Shackletons hand picked ship, Nimrod, lived up to its moniker too, a reference to Nimrod, the biblical figure and mighty hunter before the Lord from the Book of Genesis. The same old Nimrod. That makes about the tenth. Its a somewhat common name in Israel. NIGMENOG.B. Their next idiot quotation isn't until 1963. In fact, one of my friends is Nimrod. Now its become some sort of slang that means something more like dunce or idiot or jerk. In the Bible, Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, was portrayed as a mighty hunter before the Lord. As the Merriam-Webster Dictionary notes, Its easy to see how people made the leap from one mighty hunter in the Bible to calling any hunter animrod., Nimrod was a king of Shinar, what we know more familiarly as Mesopotamia. What sort of contractor retrofits kitchen exhaust ducts in the US? . leanleft.com/2004/02/23/the-etymology-of-nimrod, Improving the copy in the close modal and post notices - 2023 edition, New blog post from our CEO Prashanth: Community is the future of AI. According to the OED, the word English Nimrod is derived from the Hebrew, where in Genesis 10:89 he is described as a mighty one in the earth and a mighty hunter before the Lord. In so doing, he forever tarnished it: Call someone a nabob today, and theyre not likely to thank you. Yet, in their day, some of them. Slapstique: I actually want to name my future dog Nimrod for this reason. While I doubt that PETA was involved, I still would like to know what the exact history is that lies behind this new anti-hunter motif? What did Bugs Bunny call Elmer? We could reach the heavens! Was Bugs Bunny impersonating someone when he ate the carrot? My crew has been scattered to the far, far reaches of the Serververse. Origin of Nimrod The Oxford English Dictionary, in turn, cites a 1933 writing as the first usage of nimrod to refer to a fool, predating Bugs Bunny by at least five years and Steinbeck by nearly thirty: in Hecht and Fowler's Great Magoo, someone remarks "He's in love with her.That makes about the tenth. Maybe it's a fictional place invented by the British to frighten small children. That makes about the tenth. The negative connotation of Nimrod can be traced back to a Bugs Bunny cartoon from 1940, where Bugs called the hunter Elmer Fudd a poor little nimrod in a mocking tone. But those who wished to board the Nimrod, some might say, were playing a fools game. This will of course be invalidated the very second that someone shows an instance where Bugs too called Elmer "Nimrod". Prior to Bugs Bunny's popularization of the word, Nimrod was primarily used as a Biblical reference. Bugs Bunny referred to Fudd as a nimrod. Many people did not understand the Biblical reference. Jgerin German meant hunter.. That makes about the tenth. It had a state run insane asylum. Where does the slang adjective peng come from? Biblically speaking, Nimrod was the son of Cush and great-grandson of Noah. Image by Myrabella, 2013, licensed under Creative Commons. Back then, strength and courage was its core. But over time the word began to be used ironically, to refer to an inexperienced or foolish hunter. TheHornyCripple: I actually know someone named Nimrod. It would be best to cite chapter and verse,and, spell words as they are in dictionaries; you will have a more positive experience if you do. The name demanded respect. ironic); any person who likes to hunt. en.wikipedia.org. (Think of all the false quotations attributed to Winston Churchill). Created as a way to demonstrate the bullshit origins of scientology. The wily rabbit used the term in its original sense to refer to his nemesis, the asinine hunter Elmer Fudd, whom he called a poor little Nimrod. Eventually, the name became more associated with the characteristics of the inept animated hunter than the great biblical warrior. Elmer tries to get Bugs out of his burrow, but rather than get Bugs in the handcuffs, he gets a bomb instead and frantically searches for his keys. Im glad Ive found some clarity. Safire most certainly knew the contemporary definition of nabob, a man of great wealth, and he deliberately used it to skewer the elite. Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary. An amusing piece, Elgar said referring to his friend and subject, August Johannes Jagear, a music publisher and accomplished violinist. A great hunter; one who is fond of, or given to, hunting. Hail [Nimrod](https://timesuckpodcast.com/)! That didnt happen, but they did get closer to the pole than anyone else, just under 100 miles. Its widely reported that during a cartoon short titled A Wild Hare, a wise-cracking rabbit named Bugs Bunny called his nemesis Elmer Fudd a poor little nimrod, a sarcastic reference to Fudds skills as a hunter. That makes about the tenth. A hazardous journey, he warned, with low, wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Curious to find an actual source for it, since everywhere I can find claims its Wild Hare or doesnt give a specific episode. Not to The Oxford English Dictionary, which says that Nintura begat Nimrod, etymologically speaking, and that Nimrod translates from the Hebrew to we will rebel. Turns out that neither Nintura nor Nimrod were particularly benevolent, and the first non-capitalized use of nimrod was tyrant. That usage is now obsolete. Bugs Bunny and Nimrod (also Carrots) (Apocryphal): Bugs Bunny and other Loony Tunes cartoons remain the bar by which all other cartoons are measured. Strength and courage was its bent. shartmonger: Alex on modern family used this very cleverly in one of the last couple episodes. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary suggests that because the legendary Nimrod was associated with the Tower of Babel, a disastrous idea, nimrod acquired the meaning of "a stupid person."[4]. In fact, its hard to find any modern usage that uses nabob nicely. The Tower was built (at least 95% of it was) God came down and said "THIS they devise to doand now nothing they imagine will be restrained from them, come, let us confound their languages, so they may not understand one another", After this, Nimrod was foiled. Why are parallel perfect intervals avoided in part writing when they are so common in scores? Pinterest Bugs Bunny accidentally transformed the word nimrod into a synonym for idiot because nobody got a joke where he sarcastically compared Elmer Fudd to the Biblical figure Nimrod, a mighty hunter. However, there's one other unlikely theory about nimrod's modern meaning. Yes, its time for when good words go bad., For many years, centuries even, nimrod meant a hunter, perhaps even a great one. I can add that Nimrod was understood by high school students in Southern California as meaning "idiot" by 1963, when I learned the word only with that meaning. Imagine what mankind could do if we spoke perfectly whats in our minds and hearts to one another without misunderstanding! Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. How to determine chain length on a Brompton? But I was a weird kid. Basically, only Nimrod-types need apply, he implored. (Amateur theories include its occasional use in "Bugs Bunny" cartoon episodes featuring rabbit-hunting Elmer Fudd as a foil; its alleged ironic use, among hunters, for a clumsy member . Movies & TV Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for movie and TV enthusiasts. That would be the First State Asylum for the Insane, later renamed to Anoka State Hospital. markkind: Yep. But Bugs Bunny called Elmer Fudd a nimrod, sarcastically. Is Nimrod biblically speaking, Nimrod was primarily used as a mighty hunter andpothead or pot farmer a scene. 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