Are there “X -scolds” formula words that go current other than “deficit scolds”?

I was interested to find the word, “deficit scolds” in Paul Krugman’s article titled “Hawks and Hypocrites” in New York Times (November 11). It appears in the following sentence:

Back in 2010, self-styled deficit hawks — better described as deficit scolds — took over much of our political discourse. At a time of mass unemployment and record-low borrowing costs, a time when economic theory said we needed more, not less, deficit spending, the scolds convinced most of our political class that deficits rather than jobs should be our top economic priority. It’s not just the fact that the deficit scolds have been wrong about everything so far.-- The deficit-scold movement was never really about the deficit. Instead, it was about using deficit fears to shred the social safety net.”

Oxford online English Dictionary defines “scold” as “noun, archaic or U.S. meaning a woman who nags or grumble constantly.

Cambridge online dictionary doesn’t show the usage of “scold” as a noun.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “scold” as a noun meaning 1. One who scolds habitually and persistently. 2. A woman who disturb the public peace by noisy and quarrelsome behavior.

From Merriam-Webster I interpret “deficit-scolds” are those who are critical of the government’s financial policy and growing deficit.

I wonder how new and how popular this word is in the U.S.

Are there “X-scolds” formula words that run current, say “Communism scolds” “Abortion scolds,” “Gay-marriage scolds,” “SN and NC-17 movies scolds,” other than “deficit scolds”?

Answer

This was the original meaning of the noun scold, and — rather quite oddly — seems to be related to skald, an kind of mistrel-poet of the Norse. The OED has this curious note about its etymology:

Etymology: App. a. ONor. skáld neut. (see skald), originally meaning a poet; the sense-development postulated is strange, but the probability of a sense ‘lampooner’ as an intermediate stage seems to be indicated by the fact that the derivative skáldskapr, lit. ‘skaldship’, poetry, has in the Icel. law-books the specific sense of libel in verse.

Dating from Middle English, scold used as a noun was nearly obsolete before suddenly exploding upon the zeitgeist again. The OED has as its first definition:

In early use, a person (esp. a woman) of ribald speech; later, a woman (rarely a man) addicted to abusive language.

It includes these citations:

• 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. xxiii. (1907) II. 206 ― The Prior was one of the many instances of a youthful sinner metamorphosed into an old scold.


• 1842 Mrs. Gore Fascination 15 ― ‘If you only manage to drink the wine I send to fetch for you,’ said the scold of a wife, ‘you won’t be much the worse for it.’


• 1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 67 ― Too often he is under the dominion of a forbidding scold, who, in addition to her other bad qualities, is slovenly and unthrifty.

They also define a common scold as “a woman who disturbs the peace of the neighbourhood by her constant scolding.” It is an old term. When Shakespeare used in in The Taming of the Shrew, saying

I know she is an irkesome brawling scold.

It had already been around for four hundred years. It didn’t see much currency, though, until very recently. Using scold as a noun like this has seen a “recent” explosive increase in popularity. It’s suddenly a popular word in America. I first noticed this about a year ago or so, although probably I was late to that table. I do think it is but newly popular here.

The answer to your question is that yes, you may use it in the ways you asked about.