Gogarty
From Frikipedia
An all-encompassing word describing a situation where a vocal majority shouts down someone, with great success.
Contents |
Origins
Term named after Max Gogarty, a proudly stereotypical, over-styled toffy student type from north London, who was strangely employed by the Guardian newspaper to write a uniquely uninspiring account of his travels around the globe, seemingly based on nothing other than a CV containing such qualifications as having "written a play", along with claiming to have helped to write "bits" of Channel 4 teenage nauseo-drama Skins. Blog readers became angered when it transpired that Max's dad also wrote for the Guardian, and the internet warrior-led backlash at this staggering display of nepotism forced the website to close the blog to comments after 24 hours, issue a disappointing explanation, and seemingly mothball the whole idea of Max's continued pearls of wisdom from his attempts to "discover himself" by travelling across the world's most over-trodden gap year route through Asia.
Uses
When someone expresses a particular opinion or view, only to be shouted down by the rest of the pub, they have "pulled a Gogarty".
Friki Caveat
It remains a possibility that the column was a massive wind-up, along the lines of Chris Morris's "Suicide Journalist" in sister paper The Observer back in 1999. The Guardian's hasty clarification, however, appears to rule that possibility out.
Friki Links
- The offending piece - Reaching 475 comments, mostly edited, before it was closed.
- The Travel Editor's response - Attempt to even-handedly defuse the situation leads to further spittle-covered anger.
