Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One who displays traits of ultracrepidarianism.
- adjective Of a
critic , giving opinions on somethingbeyond his or herknowledge .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Latin; see Ultracrepidarianism.
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Examples
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“Deputies voted 494 to 36 on Tuesday to ban Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses from state schools and threaten pupils who insisted on wearing them with expulsion.” c/o Byce, the ultracrepidarian commentator
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And anyone who naysays this proposition is merely an addlepated ultracrepidarian!
rduke commented on the word ultracrepidarian
Of somebody who gives opinions on matters beyond his knowledge.
November 5, 2007
rolig commented on the word ultracrepidarian
This word, though virtually unused and only marginally functional, has an interesting history (which I gather after a short web search). It comes from the Latin proverb, ne sutor ultra crepidam: "The shoemaker should not go beyond his last." The story goes that the great Greek painter Apelles overheard a cobbler saying that he had depicted the shoes incorrectly in one one of his pictures. Apelles took note of this and thanked the cobbler. But then the cobbler started criticizing other aspects of the painting, to which Apelles replied, "Let not the shoemaker go beyond the shoes."
Both the great Russian poet Pushkin and the Slovene romantic poet France Prešeren wrote excellent epigrams on this theme, in which they used Apelles' retort to respond to their critics.
August 14, 2008
jmjarmstrong commented on the word ultracrepidarian
JM is planning to start a new political group - The Ultracrepidarian Party - should be a cert in the next election.
April 13, 2010
chelster commented on the word ultracrepidarian
Rolig has the story of Apelles and the shoemaker right but is a bit off on the proverb. In his entertaining book Amo, Amas, Amat, and More, Eugene Ehrlich gives it as ne supra crepidam sutor iudicaret, literally "the cobbler should not judge above the sandal," or more poetically, "Cobbler, stick to your last." — The Orthoepist
September 16, 2010