"blaggard" means what?

Question

I run across this word, used as a verb. It was used in a book about the "old West" of the USA. It was used in a sentence where the author was describing a gentleman's "Code of the West"..quote:

"You don't cuss or blaggard in the presence of women, children, or preachers."
I found a definition as a noun, meaning "hoodlum"..but wonder what it means as a verb.
Lee Carkenord

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I run across this word, used as a verb. It was used in a book about the "old West" of ... women, children, or preachers." I found a definition as a noun, meaning "hoodlum"..but wonder what it means as a verb.[/nq]
I always thought "blaggard" was just a rendering of the pronunciation of "blackguard".
Collins doesn't even cross-reference "blaggard", but files it under "blackguard" and has it as both a noun and verb. ("To ridicule or denounce with abusive language" and "to behave like a blackguard".)

Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)

Usenet · Answer

~~snip~~
[nq:1]I always thought "blaggard" was just a rendering of the pronunciation of "blackguard". Collins doesn't even cross-reference "blaggard", but files it under "blackguard" and has it as both a noun and verb. ("To ridicule or denounce with abusive language" and "to behave like a blackguard".)[/nq]
Apologies I omitted the noun definition in that re-edit.

Collins gives "blackguard" as "an unprincipled contemptible person; scoundrel".

Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Collins gives "blackguard" as "an unprincipled contemptible person; scoundrel".[/nq]
But what is the derivation? What was a blackguard originally?

Gary Eickmeier

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Collins gives "blackguard" as "an unprincipled contemptible person; scoundrel".[/nq]
[nq:1]But what is the derivation? What was a blackguard originally?[/nq]
Blackguard (n) 1535:

1. (obs) Kitchen servants of household
2. Rude, unscrupulous person
3. Person who uses foul, abusive language

I wonder if the first meaning has anything to do with the type of servant who would use blacklead to polish the kitchen fireplace, oven etc.

wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall
Quiet part of Hertfordshire
England

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Collins gives "blackguard" as "an unprincipled contemptible person; scoundrel".[/nq]
[nq:1]But what is the derivation? What was a blackguard originally?[/nq]

-ORIGIN early 16th cent. (originally as two words): from black + guard. The term originally denoted a body of attendants or servants, especially the menials who had charge of kitchen utensils, but the exact significance of the epithet 'black' is uncertain. The sense 'scoundrel, villain' dates from the mid 18th cent., and was formerly considered highly offensive.

Peter Duncanson
UK
(posting from a.e.u)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Collins gives "blackguard" as "an unprincipled contemptible person; scoundrel".[/nq]
[nq:1]But what is the derivation? What was a blackguard originally?[/nq]
From "The Mavens' Word of the Day" (January 15, 1998):

Do you know the definition and origin of the word "blaguard"? I keep seeing it in Frank McCourt's new book "Angela's Ashes."

First of all, the word is usually spelled blackguard, though it is indeed pronounced BLA-ggrd. (The flip side of this is that sometimes it gets spelled blagard or the like to reflect the pronunciation, and sometimes it is pronounced as "black guard" to reflect the spelling.)

The meaning is hard to pin down as is the case with many insults or derogatory expressions but 'a contemptible person; scoundrel' is the usual sense. Another is 'a person who uses offensive language'.

The word is formed from black* and *guard, but the original significance of these words is unknown. The earliest sense, from the early sixteenth century but now obsolete, is 'the kitchen staff in a large household', a sense that gave rise to other meanings in reference to low-level people. The modern sense 'scoundrel' is first found in the early eighteenth century.

Some other notable relations are the verb blackguard* 'to be a blackguard' (found in the works of Robert Burns) and 'to speak to or of in scurrilous language; revile'; and derived words of obvious meaning including *blackguardism*, *blackguardly*, and *blackguardry.

Though blackguard* is found in the United States, it is somewhat archaic something like *scoundrel* itself. In Ireland, however, it is quite common, as its frequent use in *Angela's Ashes reflects.
From "Dictionary.com Word of the Day" (June 27, 2001):

Blackguard is from black* + *guard. The term originally referred to the lowest kitchen servants of a court or of a nobleman's household. They had charge of pots and pans and kitchen other utensils, and rode in wagons conveying these during journeys from one residence to another. Being dirtied by this task, they were jocularly called the "black guard."
Regards,
masakim

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Blackguard is from black* + *guard. The term originally referred to the lowest kitchen servants of a court or of ... these during journeys from one residence to another. Being dirtied by this task, they were jocularly called the "black guard."[/nq]
Thanks - I guess that's about as close to a derivation of the word as we're going to get.
Gary Eickmeier

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Collins gives "blackguard" as "an unprincipled contemptible person; scoundrel".[/nq]
[nq:1]But what is the derivation? What was a blackguard originally?[/nq]
After dating 2 main sense with 5 subsenses, Onions(1966) says "orig. meaning and application unkn." Skeat(1882) seems more sure: "A name given to scullions, turnspits, and kitchen menials, from the dirty work done by them. See Trench, Select Glossary."
In NSOED(1993), Oxford sticks to Onions rather that Skeat: "orig. significance unkn." It gives Skeat's meaning as its second oldest (M16-E18), with "A group or group of attendents black in person, dress, or character" dated (E16-E18) and application to individuals from M16 and later.

But in NOAD(2002), Oxford seems to agree in part with Skeat: "The term originally denoted a body of attendants or servants, esp. the menials who had charge of kitchen utensils, but the exact significance of the epither 'black' is uncertain. The sense 'soundrel, villain' dates from the mid 18th cent., and was formerly considered highly offensive."

AHD4(2000) and Chambers(2003) venture no guess. MWCD11(2003) has as its oldest meaning "the kitchen servants of a household," but makes no claim that that is the "original" meaning.

Martin Ambuhl

Usenet · Answer

No website can stop you from cutting and pasting. I had no problem getting it:
Main Entry: 1black·guard
Pronunciation: 'bla-g&rd, -"gärd; 'blak-"gärd
Function: noun
Date: 1535

1 obsolete : the kitchen servants of a household
2 a : a rude or unscrupulous person b : a person who uses foul or abusivelanguage

"blaggard" means what?

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