Word of the Day Archive
Thursday July 15, 2010
brannigan \BRAN-i-guhn\
, noun:
1. A carouse.
2. A squabble; a brawl.
Polonius certainly spoke a mouthful of truth to Laertes when he advised him, in effect, "Don't start a Brannigan. But if somebody else does, give 'em hell!
-- Ty Cobb and Al Stump, My life in baseball: the true record
Emerson says in his essay on compensation that those who who would enjoy the wolfish Satisfaction of shovelling it in each Morning must forego the simple Delights of acquiring a Brannigan the Night before.
-- George Ade, Hand-made fables
A brannigan is a case of a word acquiring general meaning after already existing as a family name.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for brannigan