A lexicographical note on ‘stem-winder’.
Late on Thursday evening I said that John Kerry’s speech wasn’t a ‘stem-winder’ and that he was smart not to have tried to pull one off. In that case, as the context implied, I meant ‘stem-winder’ as a rousing or impassioned speech.
However, since then, while most readers have responded to my discussion of the speech itself, perhaps a dozen have written in to say that I used the term incorrectly, that it refers to a boring and long-winded speech rather than a rousing one.
I, for one, have never heard this meaning. For all the adaptability and ambiguity of certain words, it seems odd that one word should have two diametrically opposite meanings. And the two dictionaries I consulted seem to back me up.
Merriam-Webster defines the word thus …
Main Entry: stem-wind·er
Pronunciation: -“wIn-d&r
Function: noun
1 : a stem-winding watch
2 [from the superiority of the stem-winding watch over the older key-wound watch] : one that is first-rate of its kind; especially : a stirring speech
American Heritage defines it this way …
SYLLABICATION: stem-wind·er
PRONUNCIATION: stmwndr
NOUN: 1. A stem-winding watch. 2. A rousing oration, especially a political one.
In other words, the dictionary meaning seems pretty clear. Yet enough people are familiar with this opposite meaning that it too must have some currency. That left me wondering whether this was a corruption of the original meaning of the term that has gained currency in recent years. And this article, also sent along by a reader, suggests that is precisely what has happened.
