English

Adjective

sockdologizing ‎(not comparable)

1. (nonce word) Ambiguous term of abuse; scheming.^[1]
   • 1858, Tom Taylor, Our American Cousin

     "Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Wal, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing old man-trap."

   • 1988, Defa Samka, Pony Soldiers,

     But these confabulated, sockdologizing tins refuse to warm up. I swear they are doing it to perversely annoy me.

   • 2004, Gene Weingarten, Regina Barreca, I'm with Stupid: One Man. One Woman. 10,000 Years of Misunderstanding Between the Sexes Cleared Right Up, Simon and Schuster (ISBN 9780743244206), page viii

     And finally, I thank my friend and boss Tom Shroder, the editor at the Post who has refereed the Gene-Gina wars from the start. Tom is belligerent, arrogant, insufferably intolerant of all views not his own, and in general a sockdologizing old poop who is of no value whatsoever except for being the best humor editor alive.

Usage notes

The term is not given enough context for an unambiguous definition,^[1] but is clearly used as a term of abuse. Best known for its role in assassination of Abraham Lincoln.^[1] The line containing sockdologizing was the cue used by John Wilkes Booth to time the assassination, as the resulting laughter covered Booth’s actions.

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 14 American English Abroad, Richard W. Bailey, 14.1 Introduction, pp. 456–458, in The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume 6, 1992