One hears a lot these
days about the evils of “bullying,” especially among teens and pre-teens using
online social media. Bullying is often spoken of as if it were some new and unspeakably
horrid societal illness that must be stamped out like a forest fire. Many steps
have been taken to eliminate it, seemingly without much success, and its
presence on on the Internet only intensifies its animus. As much as we may
deplore it, we should probably acknowledge that bullying is an inherent human
behaviorial trait that we have to live with as a necessary evil.
In my schooldays, there
was plenty of bullying among boys of my acquaintance. Those who were so inclined would taunt,
make jokes about, and sometimes do (relatively mild) physical violence to male classmates
(myself among them on occasion) who wore glasses, did well (or notably badly) in
academics, were fat (or skinny), lacked the physical coordination to excel in
sports, played a musical instrument, belonged to a religious denomination other
than mainline Protestantism, or were perceived to be lacking in testosterone, observant
of regulations, submissive to authority, or well-liked by teachers. Although I
have no personal knowledge of girls’ behavior, I expect the same was true of
them. Most of those who were bullied fretted about it for a while, but then got
over it moved on.
Literature is filled
with bullies: Creon, who badgered Antigone; Goneril and Regan, who pushed their
old dad around; Jane Austen’s Emma, who was snide to Miss Bates; Jack, who
bullied everyone in The Lord of the
Flies; and the tormentors of Holden Caulfield’s unfortunate classmate James Castle who
responds by jumping out a window to his death.
So just what is a bully?
Today the word means someone who is cruel to those who are different from and presumably
weaker than the bully. But originally, in the 16th century, it was
just the opposite—a bully was a “sweetheart,” of either sex. It derived from the
Middle Dutch broeder (“brother”) and
Middle High German buole (“brother”).
Bully is cognate with the modern
German Buhle (“lover”).
Over the centuries, the
meaning of bully deteriorated, first
meaning a “fine fellow,” then a “blusterer or a braggart” and finally by the
late 17th century, “harasser of the weak.” This may have been
influenced by the similarity of the word bull
(“male bovine”), although its root word is entirely different. One etymologist theorizes that the
connection between “lover” and “ruffian” may have originated from “protector
of a prostitute,” which was an early 18th-century meaning of bully.
As a throwback to the
earlier, positive sense of the word, “bully” is also an expression that means
“admirable, good, superb,” as in the expression “Bully for you!” or “bully
pulpit,” a coinage of Theodore Roosevelt’s referring to the presidency
as a platform from which to advocate policy.
Not surprisingly, the
Bard of Buffalo Bayou is often bullied by fellow poets, but usually he is too
deep into the Chardonnay to realize it, so their ridicule never fazes him.
There
once was a student who was clever and quick
At
reading and writing and ‘rithmetic.
One
day he was bullied, and he told them to stop,
Then
he told the teacher, and she called a cop.
The
cop hauled the bullies straight down to the jail,
And
the judge threw the book at them, granting no
bail.
The
bullies have promised that they’ll mend their
ways
When
they get of jail in about thirty days.
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