{"id":3037,"date":"2022-04-07T16:36:26","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T16:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=3037"},"modified":"2022-04-07T16:36:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T16:36:26","slug":"what-a-maroon-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/what-a-maroon-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"What a Maroon - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did your friend just do something silly? If so, you could use the reactive response, \"what a maroon,\" to describe their behavior. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The expression \"what a maroon<\/em>\" means \"what a moron.\"<\/em> It's an insult to someone's intelligence and a way of telling them that they are not worth talking to in a conversation because you are above them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You'll usually be using this phrase when referring to other people's behavior, but you can use it to describe a time when you were acting like a moron.<\/p>\n

For instance, you could tell someone that you were acting like a maroon when you were driving drunk the other night.<\/p>\n

In most cases, you're using the expression as a minor insult and not serious defamation of someone's character. For instance, if your friend jumps off the roof and sprains their ankle, you could laugh at the schadenfreude and say, \"what a maroon<\/em>.\"<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\u201cLook at Alex over there acting like a fool in front of all of those people. What a maroon!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you believe what that guy just said? He thinks that NASA never went to the moon. What a maroon!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFranny thought she could get the liquor into the concert if she poured it in her water bottle. What a maroon, she doesn\u2019t realize security won\u2019t let her take any bottle inside the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a maroon, that guy over there just told me that this inflation is happening because of the Federal Reserve\u2019s monetary policy. It\u2019s clearly because of geopolitical tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh, what a maroon! He didn\u2019t see the clear glass sliding door and ran into it at full speed. He\u2019s lucky he didn\u2019t break his neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

The origin of the expression \u201cwhat a maroon!\u201d comes from the legendary Warner Bros. cartoon series, \u201cLooney Tunes.\u201d Bugs Bunny is an American icon, captivating the hearts and minds of American youth since the 1930s.<\/p>\n

During the 30s, people would refrain from using offensive language in public. Back then, saying swear words was highly frowned upon, and language was more proper than it is today. Bugs coined the expression \u201cwhat a maroon\u201d in one of the early episodes of the cartoon.<\/p>\n

The hunter, Elmer Fudd, is searching for rabbits and comes across Bugs. After distracting him and sending him away, Bugs says, \u201cwhat a maroon!\u201d The saying became Bugs catchphrase throughout the Looney Toons series.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t hear people using the expression every often today. Media changed a lot over the last 90 years, and now our language is a lot more colloquial. Using words like a moron, while not culturally acceptable, are barely a second thought to most people.<\/p>\n