PROGRESSIVES MEANING AND WORD ORIGIN FOR THE TERM SMARM
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
OCTOBER 21, 2022
 
URBAN DICTIONARY HAS OUTDONE MERRIAM WEBSTER ON PROVIDING A GENUINE DEFINITION AND WORD DERIVATION FOR A SOMETIMES USED, BUT NEVER EXPLAINED TERM, "SMARM" OR SMARMY. WHILE IT CLEARLY IS A CONCEPT OF UNDESIRABLE MEANING, I HAVE LOOKED SMARM UP HALF A DOZEN TIMES AND NOT FOUND ANYTHING SPECIFIC OR EVEN VERY USEFUL. TODAY I HAD BETTER LUCK.
 
HERE IS WHAT MERRIAM WEBSTER SAID:  
 
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smarm  
smarm noun
\ ˈsmärm  \
Definition of smarm
: smarmy language or behavior
 
Examples of smarm in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
* Fletch is also now embodied by a wisecracking Jon Hamm — also miscast (Bob Odenkirk would make a great Fletch) — who leans more naturally into the one-liners than Chase while exuding his usual mix of smarm and charm.
— Odie Henderson, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2022
* Scott Michael Foster plays him with all of the smarm but none of the charm of Nathaniel from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
— Sara Netzley, EW.com, 15 Oct. 2021
* Cirk is a college dropout who’s become fixated on killing John Gordo (Willem Dafoe, dripping menacing smarm), the major turned private contractor who trained his father, and who trained William, at Abu Ghraib.
— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2021
 
 
MERRIAM-WEBSTER'S THESAURUS DID GIVE MORE INFORMATION, BUT A LIST OF COMPARABLE WORDS IS STILL NOT A DEFINITION. THE SYNONYMS WERE:
 
Thesaurus
smarm noun
 
Synonyms & Antonyms of smarm
 
cajolement, cajolery, ingratiation, fawning, sycophancy, toadying, acclaim, applause, commendation, praise, adoration, idolatry, worship, caresses, compliments, congratulations, felicitations, greetings, regards, respects, allurements, blandishments, endearments, adulation, blarney, butter, flannel [British], flattery, incense, overpraise, soft soap, sweet talk, taffy
 
Antonyms & Near Antonyms for smarm
bad-mouthing, belittlement, depreciation, detraction, disparagement, put-down
 
 
BUT COLLINS, URBAN DICTIONARY AND WIKTIONARY ALL DID MORE RESEARCH THAN MY STANDBY M-W. BOTH CAME UP WITH HELPFUL COMMENTS, WHICH THOUGH THEY ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER, DO ACCORD IN MEANING.
 
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/smarm   
in British English
(smɑːm IPA Pronunciation Guide) British informal
 
VERB
1. (transitive; often foll by down)
to flatten (the hair, etc) with cream or grease
2. (when intr, foll by up to)
to ingratiate oneself (with)
 
NOUN
3.  obsequious flattery
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
 
Word origin
C19: of unknown origin
 
 
THE HAIR GREASE CONNECTION, WHICH MAY CONTAIN AN IMPLIED INSULT AGAINST INDIANS
 
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Smarm  
Smarm   
 
Smarm was the name given to a particularly heavy and cloying hair grease worn by Indian men in the nineteenth century. Thus a "smarmy" person is cloying, over-ingratiating, oleaginous ("oily"), close, and over-familiar.
.
"Who was that man who pretended to know you so well?"
 
"Oh, Kenneth. Ignore him. He confuses charm with smarm."
by al-in-chgo March 25, 2010
 
 
FIRST PUBLICATION
 
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smarmy#:~:text=Etymology,published%20on%2014%20January%201899
Etymology
 
smarm +‎ -y[en 1] Apparently coined by "B.R.L., of Brighton" with sense "saying treacly things which do not sound genuine" in a competition for neologisms in The Academy (London) published on 14 January 1899.[en 2]
 
Adjective
smarmy (comparative smarmier, superlative smarmiest)
 
* Falsely earnest, smug, ingratiating, or pious.
a smarmy salesman with a big smile
* (rare, dated) unctuous, greasy, as hair from pomade
*Synonyms
(falsely earnest or smug): flattering, gushing, ingratiating, oily, smug
 
 
BUT TO DIG AN EVEN DEEPER HOLE, CAN WE CARRY THIS FURTHER BACK IN TIME? THIS LEADS TO THE OCCURRENCE OF THE WORD "SMARM" AS PART OF A "SUTRA" IN HINDU WISDOM LITERATURE, PERHAPS AS EARLY AS 500 BC. IN THIS CASE THE TERM, TRANSLATING TO "THREAD," APPEARS TO GO BACK TO LOOM WEAVING, AND HAS NO NEGATIVE CONNOTATION, NOR ANY RELATIONSHIP TO OIL. READ THIS EXCERPT.
 
https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/ritual-sutras-history-of-indian-literature-volume-1-fasc-2-nbz817/  
A History of Indian Literature
By Jan Gonda
 
"…. 1. The literature
In the later Vedic period the scholarly literature developed a new prose style, generally known as sautra style. The term sutra, for want of something better often translated by "aphorism", denotes, generally speaking, a large and varied number of "manuals of instruction"! and "systematic surveys or resume" . . . . The result generally consisted of long successions of short phrases which in many cases impress a modern reader as a sort of classified index of the subjects dealt with rather than a manual. Although a good many of them are grammatically complete and logically impeccable individual smarms can hardly be disconnected from their context because they correlate to the sutras which precede . . . . The name smarm (literally "thread"), which is applicable to' both the whole work and its individual sentences or paragraphs, has been variously explained, but there can be no doubt that it is taken from the image of weaving and of woven material made out of threads. A thread stretched out lengthwise as a warp to be crossed by the woof may continue-then sutra becomes a name for the whole work-or it may be cut on both sides of the frame-then smarm denotes the single paragraphs."
 
 
THE THREAD OR DISCOURSE IN SUTRA STORIES  
 
https://tzuchi.us/blog/the-wisdom-in-sutra-stories   
 
The discourses of Shakyamuni Buddha – given starting from the time he attained enlightenment until his death – were initially passed down orally by his closest disciples and monastic followers. They were later recorded in manuscripts written in Pali and then in Sanskrit, both liturgical languages native to ancient India. As Buddhism spread, these texts were translated into Chinese and Tibetan, and eventually other languages as well. 
 
This canonical literature is referred to by the Sanskrit term sūtra (Pali: sutta), which can be translated as “discourse” yet also encompasses “string” or “thread” in its meaning. Buddhist sutras typically begin with the phrase “Thus I have heard” as they are generally considered to be buddhavacana, meaning “word of the Buddha” (Sanskrit; Pali), and  many are in the form of stories, within which core principles, rules, or aphorisms are woven in and “strung” together.
 
 
SUTRA DEFINITIONS
 
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sutras   
sutra (redirected from Sutras)
 
su·tra  (so͞o′trə)
n.
1. Hinduism Any of various aphoristic doctrinal summaries produced for memorization generally between 500 and 200 bc and later incorporated into Hindu literature.
2. also sut·ta (so͝ot′ə) Buddhism A scriptural narrative, especially a text traditionally regarded as a discourse of the Buddha.
[Sanskrit sūtram, thread, sutra; see syū- in Indo-European roots.]
FROM:
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 
sutra (ˈsuːtrə)
n
1. (Hinduism) Hinduism Sanskrit sayings or collections of sayings on Vedic doctrine dating from about 200 ad onwards
2. (Hinduism) (modifier) Hinduism
a. of or relating to the last of the Vedic literary periods, from about 500 to 100 bc: the sutra period.
b. of or relating to the sutras or compilations of sutras of about 200 ad onwards
3. (Buddhism) Buddhism collections of dialogues and discourses of classic Mahayana Buddhism dating from the 2nd to the 6th centuries ad
[C19: from Sanskrit: list of rules]
FROM:
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
 
HERE ENDS THIS THREAD.