Further to my question on the suitability of the word, heartland to “shout-out” in today’s New York Times’ article, “The Rough Rider and the Professor,” I have one more question about the usage of the word, “stemwinding.” In the following sentence, stemwind is used as a verb in the set phrase of “stemwind one’s way.”
"Roosevelt, who was born to Manhattan wealth but could be at his most passionate on behalf of the 99 percenters of a century ago, also spoke for about an hour in Osawatomie, stemwinding his way through what became known as the New Nationalism speech. It's worth remembering that he was no longer president at the time, but was mulling a challenge to his chosen successor, the malleable William Howard Taft."
As I found this usage interesting, I checked three dictionaries of OED, Cambridge and MW online dictionaries.
Cambridge doesn’t register neither ‘stemwind’ or ‘stemwinder’.
MW: registers stem winder as a noun meaning;
1.stem-winding watch
2[from the superiority of the stem-winding watch over the older key-wound watch]: one that is first-rate of its kind; especially: a stirring speech
OED registers ‘stemwinder’ as a noun meaning;
1 an entertaining and rousing speech: a stem-winder of a speech
2 dated a watch wound by turning a knob on the end of a stem.
However, there is no usage of “stemwind” and “stemwinder” is indicated in all three dictionaries.
Can ‘stemwind’ be used as a verb? Does the expression, “stemwind one’s way” pass as the normal way of saying barnstorming passionately / actively?
