A Nicer More Politically Correct Way to Call Someone a Dumb Ass

By way of the excellent World Wide Words newsletter comes the word Ninnyhammer, meaning a fool or simpleton.

The word has vanished from conspicuous usage and fallen along the wayside into antique language. The only usage that can be found in modern parlance is in an admonishment given by Gandalf the Wizard to Samwise Gamgee in J. R. R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings.

Whether this gave rise to the current word ninny or if ninny was the forerunner of ninnyhammer isn't known.

So the next time that you want to appear like a pretentious twit while chewing someone out, please feel free.