Smarmy Smarm

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hey, this is Greg DeMonte. How are you?

Hi, Greg. How are you doing? Where are you calling from?

I’m calling from Norfolk, Virginia.

Norfolk, Virginia. Welcome to the show. What’s up, Greg?

Thank you. I was calling because there’s a word that I use quite often, and sometimes when I use it, you know, it’s 50-50. Either some people look at me like I’m crazy, they’ve never heard this word before, and other people know exactly what I’m talking about, and the word is smarmy.

To be honest, I’ve always assumed that smarmy is something to mean like someone is kind of untrustworthy or always trying to get maybe something for nothing or just kind of sneaky kind of person. And the other question I had about it was, is it a combination of words? Like, is it even a real word? Did somebody just make it up?

Well, all words were made up by somebody at one point, but I know what you mean. It’s definitely a word.

Yeah. I love the word smarmy. Smarmy. It’s just somebody who’s just, ugh, just icky.

Well, yeah, and you have to say it like you said, like smarmy, like you can’t, you know what I mean? It’s just they kind of go hand in hand.

Right. Yeah, it’s a word that sounds like what it means, and it’s related to an old verb, smarm, that means to smear or bedob. So imagine making something greasy or oily and then think about the meanings that we have for somebody who is greasy or slick, right?

Exactly. Unctuous.

Well, I was going to say it reminds me of the word unctuous, which comes from a Latin word that means to anoint with oil. It’s related to unguent. And unctuous means just kind of oily and sleazy and smarmy. Too slick to get a hold on, right? They always get away.

Yeah, just pouring it on a little too thick and, yeah, smarmy.

Well, I appreciate that. It’s definitely something that I feel like I’m happy to know that I’m using it in the right way.

Oh, absolutely. I’m surprised that you have people who don’t believe that that’s a word.

Yeah, they just need to read more, I think. I had that response once. It didn’t really go well, but I agree. It does.

By the way, it’s got at least a hundred-year history. I can find the first use I know of the adjective smarmy, which is newer than the verb to smarm, is 1899. So it’s got a long history of English.

All right. So definitely not just you.

Not just you.

Good. I don’t feel like such an island anymore.

Great. Bless your heart. Thank you for calling. I really appreciate it.

Thank you, guys. Cheers. Take care. Bye.

All right. Bye-bye.

So this first use of 1899 is from a word contest in a journal called The Academy. And they’re making up new words. I don’t know what the, I think it was just for fun. And smarmy is there as an adjective.

Now, the thing about smarmy, that is the first use of it as an adjective that I can find. Really? How smarm is the noun and smarm is the verb are much older. They’ve got 50, 100 years prior they’re out there. But it’s really interesting. I don’t think it came from the word contest, but somehow it was in the ether. And this contributor threw it in there. And that was how long ago?

1899.

Oh, how about that? If a word has caught your ear and you want to talk about it, call us at 877-929-9673 or send it an email to words@waywordradio.org.