www.alphadictionary.com

blackguard

SYLLABICATION: black·guard
PRONUNCIATION: blăg'ərd, -ärd'
NOUN: 1. A thoroughly unprincipled person; a scoundrel. 2. A foul-mouthed person.
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: black·guard·ed, black·guard·ing, black·guards
To abuse verbally; revile.
OTHER FORMS: blackguard·ism —NOUN
blackguard·ly —ADJECTIVE & ADVERB

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Tim's post on the Canting Dictionary inspired me to add one of my favorite words. It's a bit more genteel than calling someone a no-good S.O.B.

I like it. A reprobate. A nogoodnik. Ne'er-do-well. Degenerate (n).

Walt Kelley used it, spelling it as "blaggard" if I members kreckly.

[side note: I can no longer determine whether Walt's name has one or two letters E -anyone know for certain? I know the -ey spelling is a Protestant signature (the so-called "Scotch-Irish") while -y is the Catholic, so I lean to the former for the esteemed cartoonist, but I don't know for sure.]

Walt Kelly according to Wikipedia.

"We have met the enemy, and he is us."

All of the definitions for this item seem to apply to Red Guard also.

Walt Kelly according to Wikipedia.

I saw that but I saw as many entries spelling "-ey" and, call me crazed, but I just don't fully trust Wikipedia for this fine a level of accuracy. Rowrbazzle!

Walt Kelly according to Wikipedia.

I saw that but I saw as many entries spelling "-ey" and, call me crazed, but I just don't fully trust Wikipedia for this fine a level of accuracy. Rowrbazzle!

Then perhaps you'd believe one of the larger Capitalistic Enterprises on the 'Net?

Besides, Kelly and Pogo seem to me to be the kind of topics to attract finiky fans as watchdogs and editors.

Walt Kelly according to Wikipedia.

I saw that but I saw as many entries spelling "-ey" and, call me crazed, but I just don't fully trust Wikipedia for this fine a level of accuracy. Rowrbazzle!

Then perhaps you'd believe one of the larger Capitalistic Enterprises on the 'Net?

Besides, Kelly and Pogo seem to me to be the kind of topics to attract finiky fans as watchdogs and editors.

Latter point agreed, but no, I'm not ready to invest Amazon with ultimate authority either.

Maybe I'm just afflicted with a romantic ideal that our orthography may still have some wiggle room left before we hit the ailing wall of the Absolute, but I'm still torn by WK's own description of himself as, in part, 'Scotch-Irish' <wince>, which would favour an -ey ending. Nevertheless, since that very info came from his own autobiography, I am compelled to concede the Kelly spelling with reservation.

Then again, that bio was found on the Internet, so all bets are off!