Word of the Day: Blatherskite

blath-er-skite / ˈblaT͟Hərˌskīt

noun

1. a person who speaks foolishly at length

The Confederate Major was of the class referred to in polite American parlance, as a “blatherskite”.

From ‘Campaigns of a Non-Combatant’ by George Alfred Townsend, 1841-1914

2. nonsense

For all of the technocratic blatherskite it generates, business theory gives little attention to the basic human interactions that make business a profoundly human enterprise.

From ‘Virtuosity in Business’ by Kevin T. Jackson, ?-

Etymology

This word was first recorded c. 1650 in the Scottish song ‘Maggie Lauder’. The song was popular with soldiers in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, so it is mostly considered an American word. Blatherskite is formed from blather, a verb meaning ‘to talk foolishly at length’, and the noun skite, ‘an offensive, disagreeable person’.