hatchetation

English

Etymology

From hatchet +‎ -ation, coined by Carry Nation (1846-1911) to describe her own acts of vandalism. Possibly a pun on agitation.

Noun

hatchetation (countable and uncountable, plural hatchetations)

1. A violent protest against the drinking of alcohol in which the protester attacks the bar with a hatchet.
   • 1936, Laurence Greene, America goes to press: the news of yesterday:

     I tell you I was strongly tempted to perform a little hatchetation on them. And cigarette smoke? Phew!

   • 1976, Frederick Feikema Manfred, Milk of wolves:

     They'd carry on worse than Carry Nation did in all her hatchetations.

   • 1978, Joan Swallow Reiter, The Women:

     Carry's last hatchetation

   • 1999, Karen Joy Fowler, Black glass: short fictions:

     […] a more confrontational shot: Carry in battle dress, threatening the photographer with hatchetation.

   • 2001, Fran Grace, Carry A. Nation: retelling the life:

     Annie Diggs, a noted suffragist and nationally renowned Populist who later applauded Carry Nation's hatchetation of saloons, gave a lecture in Holton on "The Social Evil."

   • 2002, Bonnie C Harvey, Carry A. Nation: Saloon Smasher and Prohibitionist:

     Carry Nation's hatchetation, or joint-smashing displays, helped pave the way for the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment […]