cockalorum
an egotistical person
TRANSLATION
cockalorum = ein sich wichtig machender kleiner Mann
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"The comment reflected one of Blagojevich's most prominent and defining traits -- witnessed at campaign rallies, during his time in office and later in countless TV appearances in which he declared his innocence -- that of a COCKALORUM, a boastful and self-important person in need of public attention and adoration.”
Rick Pearson & Jeremy Gorner — The Chicago Tribune (12th February 2025)
—
“Former PM, Dr. Kenny Anthony, calls Tourism Minister, Dominic Fedee, a ‘COCKALORUM’ took turns throwing jabs at each other during today’s House of Assembly sitting. The motion being debated sought approval for government to borrow US $7, 945,000, to finance the Millennium Highway and West Coast Road Reconstruction project.”
STAR Reporter (2nd June 2020)
Did you
know?
cockalorum
noun
- a boastful and self-important person; a strutting little fellow
Merriam-Webster
—
WORD ORIGIN
Cockalorum has a fascinating and somewhat complex etymological history. It may have derived from the obsolete Flemish word kockeloeren, meaning "to crow" which was probably from a Dutch dialectal kockeloeren, an onomatopoeia (hence modern Dutch verb koekeloeren meaning "to crow") cockalorum.
The word could also be a playful combination of: “cock" (rooster) - symbolizing strutting, self-important behaviour, and -alorum - a pseudo-Latin ending designed to sound grandiose and pompous.
The first documented use was in 1715, when it was used to describe the Marquis of Huntly - son of the Duke of Gordon, a Celtic Highlander chief who was himself known as the "Cock of the North”.
—
SMALL MAN, BIG VOICE!
Some words capture human behaviour so perfectly that you wonder why we don’t use them more often. Cockalorum is one of those gems—a delightfully specific term for someone who's both boastful and small, literally or figuratively.
The word perfectly captures a specific type of insufferable personality we all recognize. A cockalorum doesn't just think highly of himself—he needs everyone else to think highly of him too.
What makes cockalorum so satisfying is how it sounds. Say it out loud: "cock-a-LORE-um." It has a ridiculous, pompous rhythm that mirrors the behaviour it describes. The word itself struts around your mouth like its target struts around a room.
Maybe it's time to bring cockalorum back. We need words that deflate pompous behaviour with humour rather than anger. Sometimes the best response to self-important posturing isn't outrage—it's the perfect, deflating label that captures exactly what everyone's thinking.
Helga & Paul Smith
—
SYNONYMS
bantam rooster, blowhard, braggart, COCKALORUM, conceited fool, crown prince of nothing, egotist, gasbag, grandstander, hot air artist, know-it-all, legend in his own lunch hour, little Napoleon, noise machine, peacock, pompous twit, pretender, rooster-in-chief, self-promoter, show-off, small man with a megaphone, swaggerer, windbag
—
SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:
"That guy at the meeting today was a complete COCKALORUM — all noise, no substance."
—
P L E A S E S U P P O R T O W A D
On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga—my lovely wife and coaching partner, and our eagle-eyed daughter, Jennifer.
It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.
If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.
Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive
or
Bank transfer:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40
Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.
Thanks so much,
Paul, Helga, & Jenny Smith
- Feedback, questions, new word suggestions to: paul@smith.de
- OWAD homepage, word archive, FAQs, publications, events, and more: www.owad.de
---
- to unsubscribe from OWAD, CLICK HERE
