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You're still wrong. Here are 2 uses. brown shirt (plural brown shirts) 1. Alternative form of Brownshirt 2. A worker whose role is identified by a uniform wi

You're still wrong. Here are 2 uses. brown shirt (plural brown shirts) 1. Alternative form of Brownshirt 2. A worker whose role is identified by a uniform with a brown or khaki shirt. > We really could use a brown shirt in the Park. 2007, Dana Stabenow, A Deeper Sleep, page 36 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brown_shirt https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brown_shirt digital brownshirt (plural digital brownshirts) 1. (slang, US, derogatory) A right-wing blogger. > "They paid actors to make make phony video press releases and paid cash to some reporters who were willing to take it in return for positive stories. And every day they unleash squadrons of digital brownshirts to harass and hector any journalist who is critical of the President." Al Gore (October 2005), “Al Gore Addresses We Media” https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/digital_brownshirt#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/digital_brownshirt#English

kazinator 3y ago
All of the above are misuses of "brownshirt" by people who heard the word and, like I did, neglected to check a dictionary, thereby unwittingly invoking a Nazi reference. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brownshirt https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brownshirt There doesn't seem to be any evidence that "brown shirt" nor "brownshirt" was used a metaphor for a person in any kind of role before the 1920's, when it came into use in reference to the Nazi storm troopers. The "digital brownshirt" term was likely coined by someone who knows what "brownshirt" means; their intent is to express the idea that right-wing bloggers are like Nazis of the digital age. That use does not assigns a new meaning to the "brownshirt" constituent word. I have seen the word very rarely myself; I passively learned about it decades ago, and have not seen it used since. I used it about once or twice myself. Since that time, I have become more fastidious about looking up unknown words (which has become easier, thanks to mobile devices!) It's highly probable that the person I saw using the term decades ago knew that it was a Nazi reference.
- smittywerben 3y ago
  Words for clothing tend to shift their reference to the wearers of the clothing over time. Perhaps it was so ordinary that it never made it into literary record.
  - kazinator 3y ago
    [dead]

kazinator 3y ago

All of the above are misuses of "brownshirt" by people who heard the word and, like I did, neglected to check a dictionary, thereby unwittingly invoking a Nazi reference. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brownshirt https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brownshirt There doesn't seem to be any evidence that "brown shirt" nor "brownshirt" was used a metaphor for a person in any kind of role before the 1920's, when it came into use in reference to the Nazi storm troopers. The "digital brownshirt" term was likely coined by someone who knows what "brownshirt" means; their intent is to express the idea that right-wing bloggers are like Nazis of the digital age. That use does not assigns a new meaning to the "brownshirt" constituent word. I have seen the word very rarely myself; I passively learned about it decades ago, and have not seen it used since. I used it about once or twice myself. Since that time, I have become more fastidious about looking up unknown words (which has become easier, thanks to mobile devices!) It's highly probable that the person I saw using the term decades ago knew that it was a Nazi reference.

smittywerben 3y ago
Words for clothing tend to shift their reference to the wearers of the clothing over time. Perhaps it was so ordinary that it never made it into literary record.
- kazinator 3y ago
  [dead]