Here I thought Nimrod was a compliment!

Here I thought Nimrod was a compliment! Here I thought â€Å"Nimrod† was a compliment! Here I thought â€Å"Nimrod† was a compliment! By Maeve Maddox By now you know that I’m not deeply versed in slang. When I read in the newspaper about a dust-up over an email in which a radio news director called a political candidate a â€Å"nimrod,† I couldn’t understand why the word was being decried as â€Å"derogatory.† Now I know. The meaning I’ve always attached to the word Nimrod is â€Å"a skilled hunter.† That’s the meaning with which it is used in the books I’ve seen it in. This sense comes from the Bible. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. Genesis 8-9 The citations for Nimrod=hunter in the OED include one as recent as 1994: Towns such as Eagle, Glenwood Springs..and Gunnison throw out the welcome mat for this horde of nimrods. 1994 Denver Post Oct. B9/1 Here nimrods is being used as a synonym for hunters. As early as 1933, however, the lowercase word nimrod acquired a secondary meaning: N. Amer. slang. A stupid or contemptible person; an idiot. OED When I said I’d never seen â€Å"nimrod† used with the sense of â€Å"dummy,† I had apparently blocked out seeing it in the most recent novel I’ve read, a picaresque romp by Christopher Moore called Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal: The Lord doesnt give a damn what a chicken does on the Sabbath, you nimrod! Its a chicken. I’ll try to remember not to call any hunters â€Å"Nimrods† in a mistaken effort to compliment them. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Is Irony? (With Examples)Running Amok or Running Amuck?Mood vs. Tense