Saturday, August 15, 2009

When did people start saying "scofflaw"?


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: scofflaw

Why: When Ralph was describing his 40 year-old drug addict neighbor who lives with his parents:
Zack: He's a ne'er-do-well.
Dave: A scofflaw.
Zack: A rapscallion.
Answer: In 1924! During Prohibition, there was a contest to coin a new word to describe someone who drinks illegally. "Scofflaw" was chosen from more than 25,000 entires - a $200 prize was split between 2 people who sent the entry in separately.

Source: EtymOnline

The More You Know: Rapscallion comes from the 1600s, from the fancy version of "rascal" - rascallion.

In the 1500s, there was a parallel word rampallion, which came from ramp - "an ill-behaved woman."