blatherskite

English

Alternative forms

• blatherskate, bletherskate
• bladderskate, bladderskite, bletherskite, blatherumskite, blatheremskyte, bletheran skate, bletherkumskite (Scotland)

Etymology

From blather +‎ skite (“shit, shite”). Alternatively the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary asserts that the word is of Scottish origin, with blather/blether + skate referring to someone who is "contemptible". First use of the term dates to the mid-17th century. Compare cheapskate.

Noun

blatherskite (countable and uncountable, plural blatherskites)

1. A voluble purveyor of nonsense; a blusterer.
   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 32, in Babbitt:

     Babbitt was frightened, but he had an agonized instinct that if he yielded in this he would yield in everything. He protested: “You're exaggerating, Colonel. I believe in being broad-minded and liberal, but, of course, I'm just as much agin the cranks and blatherskites and labor unions and so on as you are. […] ”

2. A worthless fellow; a deadbeat.
3. Nonsense or blather; empty talk.