Word of the Day

: September 7, 2009

ripsnorter

noun RIP-SNOR-ter

What It Means

: something extraordinary : humdinger

ripsnorter in Context

"Inevitably, good and evil clash in a ripsnorter of a final battle, but along the way, there is action, adventure, danger, comic relief and -- always -- very good eating." (Sue Corbette, The Miami Herald, January 22, 1999)

Did You Know?

English speakers of the mid-19th century already had the term "snorter" at their disposal if they wanted a colorful term for something extraordinary, but that didn't stop speakers in the U.S. from throwing the verb "rip" onto the front of the word to create "ripsnorter." And they didn't stop there: By the time the 20th century had reached its quarter mark, U.S. speakers had added "hummer," "humdinger" (probably an alteration of "hummer"), "pip" (from "pippin," a kind of crisp, tart apple and a term for a highly admirable person or thing), and "doozy" (thought to be an alteration of "daisy") to the catalog of words for the striking or extraordinary.