stem-winder

Meaning

Noun

• A watch that is wound up by turning a small knob (at the stem).
• A rousing speech, especially by a politician.
• Someone who gives such speeches; a great orator.
• A boring, interminable speech.
• Something top-notch or first-rate.

Origin

• US, mid-late 19th century, originally referring to then-recent stem-wind watches (invented in 1840s, commercialized initially 1850s by Patek Philippe & Co.).{{Cite news
• |last=Larimore
• |first=Rachael
• |title=What's a Stemwinder?
• |work=Slate
• |accessdate=2012-10-23
• |date=2004-08-31
• |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/08/whats_a_stemwinder.html
• These were expensive, top-notch watches, hence generalized (1892) to “top-notch”, particularly applied to speeches, or to the orator in question. Non-speech senses later fell out of use. Nuance of “rousing” speech possibly by analogy with watch being wound up.
• Circa 2000, later sense of “interminable speech” a folk etymology, in sense “a speech that lasts so long one must wind one’s watch”.