callithump

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The Word of the Day for April 22 is:

callithump  \KAL-uh-thump\   noun
     : a noisy boisterous band or parade 

Example sentence:
     The town is trying to enlist one of Hollywood's most famous leading men to 
serve as grand marshal for this year's Memorial Day callithump.

Did you know?
     "Callithump" and the related adjective "callithumpian" are Americanisms, 
but their roots stretch back to England. In the 19th century, the noun 
"callithumpian" was used in the U.S. of boisterous roisterers who had their own 
makeshift New Year's parade. Their band instruments consisted of crude 
noisemakers such as pots, tin horns and cowbells. The antecedent of 
"callithumpians" is an 18th-century British dialect term for another noisy 
group, the "Gallithumpians," who made a rumpus on election days in southern 
England. Today, the words "callithump" and "callithumpian" see occasional use, 
especially in the names of specific bands and parades. The callithumpian bands 
and parades of today are more organized than those of the past, but they retain 
an association with noise and boisterous fun.