https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bloviate
What’s the connection between Harding and bloviate?
Warren G. Harding is often linked to the word bloviate, but to him the word wasn’t insulting; it simply meant “to spend time idly.” Harding used the word often in that “hanging around” sense, but during his tenure as the 29th U.S. President (1921-23), he became associated with the “verbose” sense of bloviate, as his speeches tended to be on the long-winded side. Although he is sometimes credited with having coined the word, it’s more likely that Harding picked it up from local slang while hanging around with his boyhood buddies in Ohio in the late 1800s. The term likely comes from a combination of the word blow plus the suffix -ate.
Whenever I see the word it reminds me of Bill O’Reilly!............
WOW! Thank you. Sort of related to “blowhard”.
I have Merriam Webster, but nada. Fie on it! They are very old dictionaries, inherited from parents. Also have a 2 volume Cambrige set but it’s so heavy I dont’ check often.