Question

tub-thumper noun Tub-thumpers are a noisy (and sometimes amusing) lot. The earliest ones were preachers or public speakers with a predisposition for pounding their fists on the pulpit or lectern - perhaps to wake up their listeners! Back in the 17th century, the word "tub" was sometimes used as a synonym of "pulpit"; John Dryden, for example, used the word thus in 1680 when he wrote, "Jack Presbyter shall here erect his throne, Knock out a tub with preaching once a day." "Tub-thumper" has been naming loud, impassioned speakers since at least 1662, when it was used by a writer named Hugh Foulis to describe "a sort of people ... antick in their Devotions…." : a vociferous supporter (as of a cause)

Accepted Answer

March 21, 2012 TUB-thump-er Aunt Lucille was a tub-thumper for temperance who never passed up an opportunity to sermonize fervently on the evils of "demon drink" and the virtues of abstinence.  "As some of you are aware, I've been a frequent tub thumper for winter gardening. In the main, I've promoted it as a means to eating well." - From an article by Chris Smith in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 19, 2008

Word	tub-thumper
Date	March 21, 2012
Type	noun
Syllables	TUB-thump-er
Etymology	Tub-thumpers are a noisy (and sometimes amusing) lot. The earliest ones were preachers or public speakers with a predisposition for pounding their fists on the pulpit or lectern - perhaps to wake up their listeners! Back in the 17th century, the word "tub" was sometimes used as a synonym of "pulpit"; John Dryden, for example, used the word thus in 1680 when he wrote, "Jack Presbyter shall here erect his throne, Knock out a tub with preaching once a day." "Tub-thumper" has been naming loud, impassioned speakers since at least 1662, when it was used by a writer named Hugh Foulis to describe "a sort of people ... antick in their Devotions…."
Examples	Aunt Lucille was a tub-thumper for temperance who never passed up an opportunity to sermonize fervently on the evils of "demon drink" and the virtues of abstinence. "As some of you are aware, I've been a frequent tub thumper for winter gardening. In the main, I've promoted it as a means to eating well." - From an article by Chris Smith in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 19, 2008
Definition	: a vociferous supporter (as of a cause)

Tub Thumper Speakers Word Tub March Noun Tub Thump Er Noisy