Lexiconography
Wing-nut
Welcome to the debut of your blogstress’s long-promised and eagerly anticipated occasional feature, Lexiconography , wherein your cybertrix examines the rhetoric of the day for its etymology, wit and/or effectiveness, with sporadic suggestions for alternative wording when warranted. Today’s winning entry warrants no alternative phrasing; it is a true gem of literary insult in its deployment of the unexplainably discarded term "wing-nut" as shorthand for "right-wing nut." (Note the moving hyphen. Check your style guide.) In Michael Tomasky’s excellent piece on right-wing revisionism and selective reporting, he notes, in reference to the trial of Hillary Clinton fundraiser David Rosen, " the galloping accelerando of wing-nut anticipation. " Sweet, n’est-ce pas ? Now, get out there and use it! For the punch line on the Rosen case (the guy was acquitted), click here to read Tomasky at The American Prospect Online .