The Top 30: Verbs From A Politician’s Name

An expanded glossary of existing and newly invented verbs derived from the names of political leaders, compiled by our keeper of lists

The Top 10 in the New Review, the Independent on Sunday magazine, was Verbs From A Politician’s Name (gallery below). I didn’t include gerrymander, because it is well-known: it comes from Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, who in 1812 designed a voting district in the shape of a salamander (above). But there were many other good nominations, so here is the full, expanded Top 30:

Archer. To archer one’s way through life... Proposed by Mark Worgan.

Blair. Sample sentence: “Stop blairing about the bush." From Jason Raj.

Bork. To destroy someone’s character, especially in the media. After Judge Robert Bork, whose 1987 US Supreme Court nomination was blocked thus. David Mills.

Brown. To brown a Budget: to add unnecessary complexity and obfuscation to a financial statement. Matthew Jupp.

Reckless carswelling. Meaning unclear. From Chris Challis.

Clegg. As in, “clegging one’s party's opinion-poll rating”. Suggested by Robert Wright.

Dickens. Dickensing a rumour; brittaning a file. David Paxton.

Edballs. As in, “edballsing up a tweet”. Nominated by V Unit. ‏

Fabricant. To draw attention to one’s appearance. David Crawford.

Gove. To be dismissed; to sacrifice your best friend for your career; to be reviled (colloquial). Paddy Briggs and Xlibris1.

Grayle. As in, “grayling the needy”, said Nick Cohen. (Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary, has cut legal aid and imposed charges that make it harder for the poor to go to court.)

Farage. To try too hard to be a blokish man of the people. “They struggle to farage for the middle-class vote while maintaining their appeal to outright racists.” From Mark Attwater and David Crawford.

Guillotine. Named after Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a doctor and member of the National Assembly at the time of the French Revolution. Nominated by Graham Kirby.

Hodge. Hodgeing your bets. Guide To Politics.

Mandels. “‏Getting one’s mandels on.” Suggested by Ally Paget and ruled out of order by the boss because it is not a verb.

Maxwellisation. Ian Peacock.

Meacher. Coined by the late, great Alan Watkins, it refers to the habit of politicians, mainly but not exclusively of the left, to play down their wealth and to exaggerate the humility of their origins. Or to hurd, after Douglas Hurd, who referred in his bid for the Tory leadership to his father as a “tenant farmer”. Graham Thorne.

Mellor. Graham Kirby says that in House of Cards a character speaks of “melloring” someone, presumably meaning they have been savaged or ridiculed.

Milibandy. As in, “to milibandy about a new policy”, says Alexander Sabin. Or, suggests Number 1 Pingu Fan, simply “milibanding about”.

‏Morganise. To introduce a period of apparent calm between bouts of frenzied Goving, reckoned Mark Chater.

Osborne. To smoothly butter over to disguise failure and decay: the economy has been osborned. Mark Chater.

Prescott. To greet people enthusiastically, for example, “prescotting the flesh”, suggested by David Aaronovitch.

Skinner. As in skinnering a minister: short sharp pithy comment that everyone admires but which has no material effect. Lee “Budgie” Barnett. ‏

‏Squiffy. Not actually derived from H H Asquith, as it dates back to the mid-19th century, but it could have been. Greg Rosen.

Tapsell. As in tapselling: contextualising via an historic event so distant none can deny nor verify. Alastair Stewart.

Thatcher. To take an axe to the dreams of your opponents. Tim Mickleburgh.

Thornberry. To rubbish an area less attractive than one’s own. David Crawford.

This is in place of my Catch-Up Service today. Yesterday’s was devoted exclusively to the subject of what David Cameron meant about three shredded wheat being too many. Previous daily catch-ups, and all my other postings are collected here.