moonbat
moonbat – sostantivo
My sister-in-law and her husband raised their kids there and they are all lefty moonbats.
The overwhelming use of moonbat is in derogation of what used to be called “the loony left.”
No one but a deranged barking moonbat would argue that America should pursue complete and unilateral nuclear disarmament.
Col termine wingnut la sinistra insulta gli estremisti di destra, i quali rispondono a tono con l’appellativo moonbat. E per quanto questo simpatico scambio di epiteti abbia perlopiù luogo online, non mancano gli esempi anche sulla carta stampata.
Di solito moonbat è preceduto dagli aggettivi lefty, leftwing, liberal e barking: barking o barking mad significa ‘pazzo furioso’, dunque un barking moonbat è un estremista talmente esaltato da non sentire ragioni; l’immagine che richiama è quella di un lupo o un cane che ululano alla luna. In inglese i pipistrelli, bats, sono associati alla pazzia, come nell’aggettivo bats e l’espressione idiomatica to have bats in the belfry.
Origini del termine
La parola moonbat apparve in un racconto fantascientifico di Robert Heinlein del 1947. Come insulto, soprattutto online, ha preso piede alla fine del XX secolo, mentre la paternità della locuzione barking moonbat è spesso attribuita al blogger Perry de Havilland, il quale afferma che nelle sue intenzioni il termine si riferiva sia agli estremisti di destra sia a quelli di sinistra. Non è andata così, il che dimostra come non si possa esercitare alcun controllo sull’uso della lingua.
Traduzione di Loredana Riu
moonbat – noun
My sister-in-law and her husband raised their kids there and they are all lefty moonbats.
The overwhelming use of moonbat is in derogation of what used to be called “the loony left.”
No one but a deranged barking moonbat would argue that America should pursue complete and unilateral nuclear disarmament.
The word wingnut is a common term of abuse for someone with extreme views, usually used by those on the left to refer to their opposite numbers on the right. Those on the right have an equivalent term they can use to disparage left-wing opponents: moonbat. You will not be surprised to learn that the term is used mainly online, although it has also found its way into print media.
Moonbat is typically preceded by adjectives like lefty, leftwing, liberal and especially barking: barking or barking mad means crazy, so a barking moonbat is someone who is alleged to be so wedded to their leftwing views that they are immune to reason or common sense. The image behind it is probably that of a dog or wolf howling at the moon. Bats are also associated with madness, as in the adjective bats and the idiom to have bats in the belfry.
Origin
The word moonbat appeared in a short story by the science fiction author Robert Heinlein back in 1947. Moonbat started to be used as a term of abuse online, especially in the blogosphere, at the end of the 20th century. The term barking moonbat is often credited to blogger Perry de Havilland, who says that his intention was that the term should be applied to those on the extreme right as well as the far left. That’s not how it has turned out, which just goes to show that you can’t control language usage.
