9:44 a.m. - 2006-03-09

Fence Sitter or Indian Chief

I�m sitting at my desk looking for ways to procrastinate and be distracted and I came across this definition of Mugwhump (via a g00gle search of �Mugwhump�).

It was a wit�s observation during the 1884 campaign that a Mugwhump was a fence sitter, with a big mug on one side and his whump (or rump) on the other.

Well I don�t know who �wit� is. I don�t know what the 1884 campaign was. I�m definitely NOT a fence sitter, or a �he�. But there�s something about a �mug� and a �whump� that rings a bell.

However, my Concise Oxford Dictionary says:
Mugwump - n. Amer. a person who remains aloof or independent, especially from party politics.
Origin of the word: from Algonquian mugquomp 'great chief'.

I need say no more.