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RSS“Crapulence” Doesn’t Mean That
A reader called my attention to a sentence in which these words appeared:
…a cesspool of its own crapulence
I turned to my browser and found so many examples of “wallowing in their/his/its own crapulence” that I conclude that the expression has already become a cliché.
Apparently a lot of people imagine that crapulence means excrement.
Columnist Jonah Goldberg thinks so:
Two decades of crapulence by the political class has been prologue to the era of coprophagy that is now upon us. It is crap sandwiches for as far as the eye can see.
Actually, crapulence and its related forms crapulent and crapulous, come from a Latin word meaning “intoxication.” and have to do with drunkenness.
crapulence: great intemperance especially in drinking –Merriam-Webster
crapulence: 1. Sickness or indisposition resulting from excess in drinking or eating; 2. Gross intemperance, esp. in drinking; debauchery. –OED
crapulous: “sick from too much drinking,” from L. crapula, from Gk. kraipale “hangover, drunken headache, nausea from debauching.” The Romans used it for drunkenness itself. English has used it in both senses. –Online Etymology Dictionary
The vulgarism crap, on the other hand, is used as a noun to mean excrement, and as a verb to mean defecate.–
Merriam-Webster gives the etymology of crap as:
Middle English, from Middle Dutch crap, crappe pork chop, greaves ["cracklings"], grain in chaff, from crappen to tear or break off
The use of crap with excremental associations has been in the language since the 19th century. The Online Etymology Dictionary indicates that crap belongs to a
cluster of words generally applied to things cast off or discarded (e.g. “weeds growing among corn” (1425), “residue from renderings” (1490s)… “dregs of beer or ale”
The OEtyD entry concludes that the word probably comes from the Middle English word crappe, “grain that was trodden underfoot in a barn.”
In case the meaning of coprophagy in the quotation above is not evident from the context, here’s the definition from Merriam-Webster:
coprophagy: the feeding on or eating of dung or excrement that is normal behavior among many insects, birds, and other animals but in man is a symptom of some forms of insanity
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20 Responses to ““Crapulence” Doesn’t Mean That”
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This may be the most important post I’ve ever read. Seriously, I love this!
Don’t forget Thomas Crapper a sanitary engineer who improved the workings of the flushing toilet, he couldn’t have had a better name for his job
At what point does a word’s meaning change? When I read the original Goldberg piece, I didn’t know “crapulence” was a real word, and I assumed the meaning was related to, well, crap, and I think most people would.
As ChrisB said above, most people think the word “crapulence” is a contemporary superlative for “crap.” I did not know that the root word “crap” had such distinguished antecedents.
However, Goldberg could have been making a smart and subtle pun: Two decades of crapulence [excessive eating and drinking, with resulting nausea and waste] by the political class has been prologue to the era of coprophagy that is now upon us. It is crap [the people get the waste] sandwiches for as far as the eye can see.
Learned another new thing! This reminded me of a word my youngest uses – craptacular – for something that is spectacularly bad.
“I’ve had a craptacular morning between kids and dogs and cleaning up.”
Don’t know if it is a real word or one she made up, but I think it can be useful in a number of ways, just like crap.
You uncover the most fascinating stuff. I’m in word nerd bliss. More than once your clarification of terms has saved me from making a fool out of myself. Please keep up the good work; I love it!
I always assumed crapulence was a portmanteau of crap and excellence, meant ironically.
Ooooh…portmanteau? Two new words in one day!! I’m on sensory overload. Gotta pull out my Merriam-Webster’s. Thanks, Eric.
Are people serious? This shouldn’t even need to be addressed. Don’t assume crapulence has something to do with crap just because they sound the same. More importantly, don’t try to use the word if you don’t know what it means because that will confuse more people. When I first encountered the word ‘crapulence’ I didn’t know what it meant, I figured it couldn’t be related to the word ‘crap’ and so I looked it up.
End rant.
The word ‘crap’ is a relatively modern word derived from the name of Mr. Crapper (of above referenced fame) which has come to be associated with the contents of one’s crapper. Toilets are still called crappers in the UK, and elsewhere no doubt.
The crap in crapulence is mere coincidence.
…and just for light relief. My favourite use of the word, ever.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/mone.....bsandmoney
cmdweb,
I think you’ll find that the association of the word “crap” with Mr. Crapper is also a coincidence:
http://www.etymonline.com/inde.....hmode=none
Cmdweb,
I just read the letter you linked to. Isn’t that a superb example of answering rudeness with courtesy! Love it. Thanks.
Thanks Maeve, another of my long held beliefs shattered! Oh well …everyday’s a school day.
Isn’t that a superb example of answering rudeness with courtesy!
If sticking a gun to your head and politely asking for you wallet is “courtesy”, I suppose it is. Personally, I’d take issue with the gun, never mind the language!
Rob, in case you care, you might want to double-check that Crapper post. It’s my understanding that it’s a myth (see “The Pedant’s Revenge” if you can find it in your local used book shop — it’s a great book for those of us who make a big issue of facts being correct instead of fuzzy and imprecise [in other words, pedants]).
The first time I ever heard this word was in an early episode of The Simpsons. In fact, it was used in that very phrase, “wallowing in my own crapulence”, in an episode about Mister Burns trying to block out the sun. It would be quite interesting if this is where the phrase and misunderstandings originated — from a language joke in a television show.
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Given some of Jonah Goldberg’s interest, he was probably referring back to the aforementioned Simpson’s episode.
Actually, the usage in the episode of the Simpson’s is quite correct. Mr. Burns was both self indulgent and showing out of control behavior or intemperance so therefore “wallowing in my own crapulence” is indeed correct and also a clever and humorous usage of the word.