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The Man Who Got Boycotted So Hard, They Named It After Him | Smartest Year Ever (June 28, 2025)
What does it take to have your name turned into a global protest tactic?
In today’s episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy digs into the surprising true story of Charles Boycott—a British land agent in 19th-century Ireland whose brutal treatment of tenant farmers sparked a movement so effective, his name became a verb. This is the origin of the word “boycott,” a form of nonviolent resistance that exploded across the English-speaking world and has never left.
Along the way, Gordy explores the Irish Land Wars, the rise of moral shunning as political protest, and how one man’s name became a symbol of grassroots power—even though he never said the word himself.
If you've ever wondered how words are born from real people and historical events, this is the kind of story you won’t forget.
#WordOrigins #linguistics
Sources
Kelly, J. (2012). The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People. Henry Holt and Company.
Kinealy, C. (1995). This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845–52. Gill & Macmillan.
O'Tuathaigh, G. (2010). Ireland Before the Famine: 1798–1848. Gill & Macmillan.
Oxford University Press. (2025). Boycott, v. Oxford English Dictionary Online. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/22049
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2025, June 15). Charles Cunningham Boycott. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Cunningham-Boycott
Rogers, R. (2025, March 8). The Boycott Origination Story. Irish America. https://www.irishamerica.com/2025/03/the-boycott-origination-story
JSTOR Daily. (2018, April 20). Boycotting Captain Boycott. https://daily.jstor.org/boycotting-captain-boycott
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. (2019, April 4). The Original Irish Boycott. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/the-original-irish-boycott
Music thanks to Zapsplat.
#LanguageFacts #DailyFacts #Etymology #WordNerd #LanguageHistory #boycott #irishhistory
View all episodes
By GordyWhat does it take to have your name turned into a global protest tactic?
In today’s episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy digs into the surprising true story of Charles Boycott—a British land agent in 19th-century Ireland whose brutal treatment of tenant farmers sparked a movement so effective, his name became a verb. This is the origin of the word “boycott,” a form of nonviolent resistance that exploded across the English-speaking world and has never left.
Along the way, Gordy explores the Irish Land Wars, the rise of moral shunning as political protest, and how one man’s name became a symbol of grassroots power—even though he never said the word himself.
If you've ever wondered how words are born from real people and historical events, this is the kind of story you won’t forget.
#WordOrigins #linguistics
Sources
Kelly, J. (2012). The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People. Henry Holt and Company.
Kinealy, C. (1995). This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845–52. Gill & Macmillan.
O'Tuathaigh, G. (2010). Ireland Before the Famine: 1798–1848. Gill & Macmillan.
Oxford University Press. (2025). Boycott, v. Oxford English Dictionary Online. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/22049
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2025, June 15). Charles Cunningham Boycott. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Cunningham-Boycott
Rogers, R. (2025, March 8). The Boycott Origination Story. Irish America. https://www.irishamerica.com/2025/03/the-boycott-origination-story
JSTOR Daily. (2018, April 20). Boycotting Captain Boycott. https://daily.jstor.org/boycotting-captain-boycott
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. (2019, April 4). The Original Irish Boycott. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/the-original-irish-boycott
Music thanks to Zapsplat.
#LanguageFacts #DailyFacts #Etymology #WordNerd #LanguageHistory #boycott #irishhistory