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lampoon

noun, verb — 2 senses

lampoon

noun

/læmˈpuːn/

Etymology From French lampon (“satire, mockery, ridicule”), built on French lampons (“let us drink — a popular refrain for scurrilous songs”), from lamper (“to quaff, to swig”). : Littré quotes a satirical song mocking King Jacques II Stuart, fleeing Dublin, in 1691, and returning to France under the escort of Lauzun: :: Prenez soin de ma couronne, J'aurai soin de ma personne ; ("Take care of my crown, I will take care of my person") Lampons ! lampons !

1

A written attack or other work ridiculing a person, group, or institution; especially, a satirical one.

  • To say truth, Ma'am, 'tis very vulgar to Print and as my little Productions are mostly Satires and Lampoons I find they circulate more by giving copies in confidence to the Friends of the Parties—1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.i:
  • "Dangerous things, sir—dangerous things!" exclaimed Mr. Lintot, drawing a deep breath of air from the open window: "do you know, sir, Curl published a lampoon on Lord Hervey the other day, who said that he would have horsewhipped him if he could have found his way into the city...1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Alteration”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 22:
Derived terms
lampoonery, lampoonish, lampoonist, lampoonry

lampoon

verb

Etymology From French lampon (“satire, mockery, ridicule”), built on French lampons (“let us drink — a popular refrain for scurrilous songs”), from lamper (“to quaff, to swig”). : Littré quotes a satirical song mocking King Jacques II Stuart, fleeing Dublin, in 1691, and returning to France under the escort of Lauzun: :: Prenez soin de ma couronne, J'aurai soin de ma personne ; ("Take care of my crown, I will take care of my person") Lampons ! lampons !

1

To satirize or poke fun at.

  • The original phrase was frequently lampooned in subsequent years, becoming strong enough in popular culture that the variations in place of ‘drugs’ probably didn’t take long to appear at all.2009 June 24, “this is your brain on X”, in The Snowclones Database:
  • Her tone shift involved former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton lampooning their fellow ex-president as a figure of ridicule. Then Harris closed the trap with a line in her convention speech: “Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences … of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”2024 August 26, Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s personal attacks aren’t just who he is. They’re his strategy”, in CNN:
Derived terms
lampoonable, lampooner, unlampooned

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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