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by notmrjohn on April 28th, 2005

notmrjohn

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What's the etymology of "scofflaw"?

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  • by anguilla on April 30th, 2005

    anguilla

    The word was coined in 1924, from scoff (q.v.) + law.

    "Scofflaw" was the winning entry in a national contest during Prohibition to coin a word to characterize a person who drinks illegally, chosen from more than 25,000 entries; the $200 winning prize was split between two contestants who sent in the word separately, Henry Irving Dale and Miss Kate L. Butler.

    --According to the Online Etymology Dictionary

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