HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Bloviation
OR:
Bloviation on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Bloviation is a style of empty, pompous, political speech. The word originated in
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
and was most notably used by
Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...
in his successful 1920 US presidential campaign. He subsequently described it as "the art of speaking for as long as the occasion warrants, and saying nothing". His opponent,
William Gibbs McAdoo William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name: * Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior" * William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "J ...
, compared it to "an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea."


Origin

Bloviation in Ohio was originally idle chatter. As a form of political speech, it appears in the ''Debates and Proceedings of the Convention for the Revision of the State of Ohio'' in the mid 19th century. One etymology suggests that the word is a "compound of blow, in its sense of 'to boast' (also in another typical Americanism, ''blowhard''), with a mock-
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
ending to give it the self-important stature implicit in its meaning."


Gamalielese

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
lampooned Harding's bloviate style as gamalielese, from his middle name of Gamaliel. He complained that the style was suited to Ohio
yokel Yokel is one of several derogatory terms referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people. The term is of uncertain etymology and is only attested from the early 19th century on. Yokels are depicted as straightforward, simple, na� ...
s: In this he was responding to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' which had defended Harding's style as presidential:


See also

*
Circumlocution Circumlocution (also called circumduction, circumvolution, periphrasis, kenning, or ambage) is the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea. It is sometimes necessary in communication (for example, to work around lexical ga ...
*
Filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...
* Stilted speech * Verbiage


References

{{authority control Public speaking Rhetoric Warren G. Harding