In 1676, William Wycherley in The Plain Dealer commented “thou senseless, impertinent nincompoop”. I don’t think he intended that his comment be flattering.
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I haven’t heard nincompoop used since I was a child. It was used often then, occasionally against me.
In the 17th century, several people used the word against themselves. But here is a word that seems to have no real origins. My big Oxford dictionary says it has a “fanciful formation”. Other dictionaries display similar doubts.
The Webster dictionary in my possession says the word is a corruption of the Latin non compos (as in the legal term non compos mentis), but I have my doubts.
Samuel Johnson in his 1755 dictionary started the non-compos story when he said nincompoop was a corruption of non compos, or not of sound mind.
The word, or spellings similar to the word, were around much earlier than non compos was in general usage, but I’m no legal expert, so don’t take my word for it.
But I have come across the spellings nincompoop and nickumpoop that were in general use much earlier. My big dictionary says of nickum-poop “obsolete, variation of nincompoop”.
Most dictionaries say of nincompoop words such as origins unknown.
Author Adrian Room says the “precise” origins of the word are unknown, but he added it was almost certainly not a corruption of non compos mentis, as had been suggested by some other writers.
The name in French of Nicholas or Nicodemis is used for a fool.
Craig Carver says poep (with an e) relates in Dutch to a clown and the Dutch noddy means to be a fool. Poopnoddy meant in the early Dutch blockhead, or a fool. A variant was noddypoop.
Nincompoop was the inspiration for a few other words, such as nincompoopery, nincompoophood or nincompoopish.
Another word is nincompoopiana, going back to 1895. The Sunday Times on October 18, 1970, commented “nincompoopiana began in the 1880s and was triggered off by the aesthetic movement which rebelled against the pretty and the respectable and the new woman”.
One dictionary says nincompoops are dumb and foolish and can’t do anything right. It adds that to be called a nincompoop is “definitely not a compliment”.
So, although its origins are in dispute, if anybody should call you a nincompoop you can take it to mean you are a bit of a fool.
lauriebarber.com; lbword @midcoast.com.au
