• blunderbuss •
Printable Version Pronunciation: blên-dêr-bês • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: No, this word refers neither to a misplaced kiss nor a public transportation vehicle that is off course. Rather, today's word has two other meanings. 1. An old-fashioned muzzle-loading pistol or musket with a flared or bell-shaped muzzle that made reloading easier. 2. A person who is both stupid and clumsy.
Notes: 
The blunderbuss was a precursor of the shotgun used from Russia to the Americas in the 17th century. The plural of today's word is blunderbusses and the possessive is blunderbuss's—three Ss in a row! Pilgrims are depicted around this time of the year in the US holding a blunderbuss, indicating they used them to shoot turkeys for Thanksgiving. Actually, our Pilgrim ancestors survived on food provided by the Wampanoag people and it is for that we should feel thankful at this time of the year.
In Play: Today this word is used most frequently as an adjective referring to the pattern of shot from a blunderbuss: "Rather than focusing on people who are likely to support his political campaign, Ransom Cash is using a blunderbuss approach for his campaign funding, asking everyone in his district for money." As a noun, today's Good Word refers to people with a rare blend of both clumsiness and stupidity: "Donny Brooke is a such a blunderbuss his wife won't let him near a china shop."
Word History: Today's special holiday word originated in Dutch as donderbus, literally "thunder-box". The Dutch word bus "box" is related to the Latin word buxis with the same meaning—not to mention English box. The problem for English speakers was that donder wasn't an English word. As a result we had trouble remembering it so, to allay this problem, we replaced donder with blunder, not inappropriate for such a clumsy gun. This process is called "folk etymology", a historical change that follows folk intuition rather than grammatical rules. (We want to focus our gratitude very sharply on David Ross, who thought today's Good Word would be good for Thanksgiving.)
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!
