Biho Takashi, “Bat in Moon,” woodblock print, c. 1905
24 April 2026
Moonbat is a slang term for a crazy person that suddenly rose to prominence in 2003. Like most slang terms, its origin cannot be determined with certainty, but it likely formed through a mixing of two other metaphorical terms, barking/howling at the moon and bats in the belfry.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang has a citation from Peter Buckley and Duncan Clark’s 2003 edition of The Rough Guide to the Internet. I’ve only been able to locate the 2006 edition online, but the 2003 edition likely reads identically:
Over the years, the blogging community has developed its own language of labels, jibes and compliments. If you want to know the difference between a “blawg” and a “barking moonbat” stop off at: Blog Glossary www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary.html [URL no longer active]
That same year, on 31 August, we have this in Florida’s St. Petersburg Times about a woman who volunteered as a human shield in Baghdad prior to the US war with Iraq:
On the Internet, they are calling Faith Fippinger a “treasonous hippie” and a “peacenik bitch.” A “no-good, dictator-supporting, mass-murder-abetting loser.” A “barking moonbat.”
And there is this syndicated column by James Lileks that appeared in newspapers on 23 October 2003:
So why does Bush coddle the Saudis? If you’re of the barking moonbat persuasion, the reasons are clear: Oil! Halliburton! Prescott Bush was the love slave of King Faisal in a Skull and Bones ritual!
Sources:
Benham, Kelly. “A Soft Target.” St. Petersburg Times (Florida), 31 August 2003, F1/1. ProQuest Newspapers.
Buckley, Peter and Duncan Clark. The Rough Guide to the Internet. London: Rough Guides, September 2006, 283. Archive.org.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang, accessed 31 March 2026, s.v. moon, n.
Lileks, James. “Dean Tailors His Words to His Audiences.” Trenton Evening Times (New Jersey), 23 October 2003, A19/1. Readex: America’s Historical Newspapers.
Image credit: Takashi, Biho, c. 1905. Brooklyn Museum. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain image.