Are there any other trades the ‘mong’ there wares? Where did the phrase originate and what does it mean (I’m guessing it just means ‘seller’). Would it be possible to use it to describe another business like maybe a Techmonger for a computer store or even a Cockmonger for a gigolo?
I hope I’m contributing to intelligent discussion when I mention the term…whoremonger?
what exactley would a Whoremonger sell though? Does it mean simply a prostitute (whereby Sexmonger or maybe Quimmonger would be more apt) or someone who actually sells whores like a pimp for example?
How about war-monger? Seems to be a popular occupation these days.
So in the case of a war-monger ‘monger’ must mean something else I presume? I’m still confused as to what ‘monger’ actually means. Maybe it is someone who just provides whatever service they are ‘monging’.
Just found this on dictionary.com:
A dealer in a specific commodity. Often used in combination: an ironmonger.
A person promoting something undesirable or discreditable. Often used in combination: a scandalmonger; a warmonger.
mon·gered, mon·ger·ing, mon·gers
To peddle
So there you go…
Since I don’t want to be accused of wordmongering, here is official list of all the mongering you can think of, including definitions for -monger.
Peace.
Teach a man to fish: Everyone should bookmark or make a browser shortcut to www.onelook.com. A search of monger was all that’s needed.
‘Murdermongress’ is just too damn cool to be obscure.
The word monger probably starts out life(if you forget about a weird Greek connection) as the Latin mango which means a trader, dealer, etc. Before 975, Old English gives us mangere, which then morphs(before 1200) into mangare and shows up in 1274 in a quote as mongere and then it’s off to the monger-races.
The first use is actually haymonger from 1174 although you might not recognize the spelling. By the 1500’s it was used in a pejorative sense.
This from my Chamber’s Dic. of Etymology. Which is based on OED, etc.
Seller, dealer, promoter. A war-monger mongs war just like a fish-monger mongs fish. They just mong it.
Just to clarify, my previous post was in jest in that “mong” and “monging” are incorrect and the correct verb is “mongering”. I was just fooling around.
So, the Spongmonkeys are Submongers, right? They were moonmongers first.
I think you’re reading your Chambers wrong. Mangere and mango should be cognates. Independently passed down from IE.
The exact quote is:
monger n. dealer in some particular article. Before 1200 mangare; later mongere (1274); developed from Old English (before 975) * mangere*, from Latin mango (genative mangonis) trader, dealer, borrowed from a Greek word related to manganon contrivance, means of enchanting;
Ewww. We’ve got a wordmongering fight going on here! Can’t wait 'til I tell the others.
Peace,
The Gossipmongerer.
It’s not a fight. My Chambers is buried in an unknown box somewhere less than handy. A few derivations I’ve seen in my Chambers do not always make clear if something is actually derived from Latin or a cognate. Given the antiquity of the word in Old English, and not likely to have been adopted via Church influence, I am surprised. But I do appreciate the effort samclem took to include the quote.