Locofoco

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The Word of the Day for December 6 is: 

Locofoco   \loh-kuh-FOH-koh\   noun
          1 : a member of a radical group of New York Democrats organized in 
1835 in opposition to the regular party organization 
    *2 : a member of the Democratic party of the United States

Example sentence:
     "It might be said that Roosevelt was the greatest locofoco since Andrew 
Jackson." (Robert E. Sherwood, _Roosevelt and Hopkins_)

Did you know?
          "Locofoco" burned brightest in 19th-cenutry America, where it 
designated a new type of self-igniting match or cigar capable of being lit by 
friction on a hard surface. The word is believed to combine the adjective 
"locomotive" (which was commonly taken to mean "self-propelled," though "loco" 
actually means "place," not "self," in Latin) and the Italian word for "fire," 
"fuoco." The political meaning of "Locofoco" is a story in itself. In 1835, a 
group of radical Democrats brought locofoco matches to one of their meetings 
after hearing that their adversaries were plotting to disrupt the meeting by 
putting out the gas lights. The room did indeed go black but was soon relit, 
thus earning the group its name.





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