"Wingnut"?

[bunsen_h]

Yesterday evening, beable  and I were chatting with our friend D.- and described someone as a "wingnut".  It was a term that D.- hadn't encountered before, and she asked us to explain.  It wasn't as simple as I'd have thought.

I've been trying to come up with a way of clarifying the concept.  Looking over some recent silliness on a mailing list, where one participant was reading a whole lot of her own Bad History into a discussion and seeing stuff that not only wasn't there, but which was the opposite of what really was there, I got a glimmer.

A wingnut is someone whose attitude and exposition are such that even people who fundamentally agree with his/her basic position wish that s/he would shut up, because s/he's making that position look bad.

Comments

[kattale.livejournal.com]

Yup, that would be a workable definition.
I think if someone described a person using that term, I would envision a person likely to fly off unpredictably in unexpected directions - usually in a way that is a danger to others and him/herself. Not grooving to the same groove as the rest of us.

I once had to define "bonehead", and was able to come up with someone who is basically quite smart, but who's intelligent thoughts have trouble squeezing out past the thick skull. :)