More than you want to know, I'm sure, Mike, but from the Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word & Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson:
"Revolutionary War soldiers liked to sing the Scottish song, "Maggie Lauder," the chorus of which chided a *blatherskate*, a gabby person full of nonsense or hot air. The song is a very old one, dating back to the 17th century, and the word *blatherskate* is older still, formed from *bladder*, an obsolete English word for an inflated pretentious man, a windbag, and a contemptuous use of the word *skate*, referring to the common food fish.
"Why the skate was chosen for the humorous word isn't clear, perhaps because it was believed to inflate itself like a blowfish, or possibly just because it was common. In any case, `Maggie Lauder' made *blatherskate* popular in America and later, in the 19th century, when Americans invented their native word *cheapskate*, for a tightwad, they borrowed the *skate* from it.
"This is a more roundabout explanation than the theory that the *skate* in *cheapskate* comes from a British slang word for chap, but it seems more logical, as *skate* in the sense of *chap* never had much currency in the U.S., except in the term *good skate*, meaning a good person."
Gee, I think we should resuscitate the expression "blatherskate." |
