blatherskite
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- blatherskate, bletherskate
- bladderskate, bladderskite, bletherskite, blatherumskite, blatheremskyte, bletheran skate, bletherkumskite (Scotland)
Etymology edit
From blather + skite (“shit, shite”). Alternatively the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary asserts that the word is of Scottish origin, with blather/blether + skate referring to someone who is "contemptible".[1] First use of the term dates to the mid-17th century.[1] Compare cheapskate.
Noun edit
blatherskite (countable and uncountable, plural blatherskites)
- A voluble purveyor of nonsense; a blusterer.
- 1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 32, in Babbitt:
- Babbitt was frightened, but he had an agonized instinct that if he yielded in this he would yield in everything. He protested: “You're exaggerating, Colonel. I believe in being broad-minded and liberal, but, of course, I'm just as much agin the cranks and blatherskites and labor unions and so on as you are. […] ”
- A worthless fellow; a deadbeat.
- Nonsense or blather; empty talk.