Governor Gordon Said We’re Being “Knuckleheads”

In his last press conference, Governor Gordon said that we are being "Knuckleheads." To be fair, let's look at his exact words as he was speaking about a serious spike in Covid-19 cases:

“We need to allow people to get in to see [their family], so they don’t feel so isolated,” Gordon said. “We’re also putting them at greater risk, because we’re being knuckleheads about this.” 

I grew up on stage, writing, in front of radio microphones and television cameras. Words are important to me. So, I decided to look up the origin of the word, "KNUCKELHEAD."

The word is not as old as I thought and did not come from where I thought it would have.

According to Etymonline.com: Knuckle-head, "stupid person," 1890, American English, from knuckle (n.) + head (n.). From 1869 as the name of a part in a type of mechanical coupling device.

The word "knucklehead" was then used by the U.S. Army in 1942 when they created  a fictional character they used to show new recruits what not to do.

Okay, so it means what we thought it meant, and we now know where it came from and how the word became a popular part of American culture.

Once again, to be fair to Governor Gordon, he was including himself when he said we were being knuckleheads.

I could not find a cartoon for "knucklehead". But I did find Private SNAFU! Same idea, different name.