# What is a troglodyte(sp?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614 "2004-04-12T15:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/1 "2004-04-12T15:57:35Z")
I occasionally see the mouth-breathing variety mentioned and thought it was a pretty unique insult. To the point I’ve used it a couple of times. Problem is, I don’t know what it means. Is it some kind of creature from a Tolkein book? Either way, what is it, and what makes it an insult? ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/2 "2004-04-12T16:02:14Z")
trog·lo·dyte ( P ) Pronunciation Key (trgl-dt) n. A member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people that lived in caves, dens, or holes. A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish. An anthropoid ape, such as a gorilla or chimpanzee. An animal that lives underground, as an ant or a worm ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/3 "2004-04-12T16:03:46Z")
Essentially, a cave dweller. [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/) gives seven entries [here](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=troglodyte). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/4 "2004-04-12T16:11:08Z")
Joan Crawford’s last [costar](http://imdb.com/title/tt0066492/). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/5 "2004-04-12T16:12:54Z")
And it’s not necessarily always cave dweller in the sense of uncultured. It can also mean stubbornly old-fashioned. If I recall correctly, during F.D.R.‘s presidency, the old-money upper-class Republican aristocracy of Washington, D.C., who hated “that man” for supporting workers’ rights and joked about his name really being “Rosenfeld” were called the Troglodytes. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/6 "2004-04-12T16:40:47Z")
Also, the genus/species name for the common Chimpanzee is _Pan troglodytes_. I alway read “troglodyte” (rightly or wrongly) to mean something like “monkeyman” as far as insults go. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/7 "2004-04-12T17:09:27Z")
“The Troggs,” of “Wild Thing” fame, took their name from a shortening of troglodytes, a satirical response to the way rock music was viewed back in those primitive days. The word was always more of a British usage, emerging from the vicious battles over the acceptance of Darwin. Many people did not like to think that humanity ever went through a brutish, primitive phase and the word took on additional negative connotations from its associations with apes. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/8 "2004-04-12T22:52:06Z")
The scientific name of the standard chimpanzee (as distinguished from the bonobo) is _Pan troglodytes_. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/9 "2004-04-12T22:57:48Z")
Oops, **Hello Again** got that in before me. I’ve often wondered about the species name. They’re certainly not known as cave dwellers. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/10 "2004-04-12T23:41:50Z")
Chambers’ _Dictionary of Etymology_ shows(as does the OED) that the word shows up in English in 1555. It was borrowed from Middle French(1552 Rabelais), or perhaps straight from the Latin _troglodyta_ which stole from the Greeks _troglodytes_. The derogatory uses seem to appear in about the mid-1800’s. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-troglodyte-sp/239614/11 "2004-04-12T23:56:05Z")
The word “troglodyte” also refers to a style of house built into the ground, commonly found in North Africa. [http://i-cias.com/e.o/troglod.htm](http://i-cias.com/e.o/troglod.htm)