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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

WHIPMEGMORUM, n. Also whigmigmorum. A noisy altercation or dispute, esp. about politics. Nonce usage. See etym. note.Abd. 1776 Weekly Mag. (2 May) 177:
Let Whig and Tory all agree To drop their whipmegmorum. [The version in Skinner's Amusements (1809) 55 has whigmigmorum.]

[The word occurs first as Whip Meg Morum in the “Epitaph on Habbie Simson” by Robert Sempill (died a.1669) as the name of a dance tune, prob. chiefly an echoic formation. The later alteration to Whig- is due to the associations of the previous line.]

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