Megaphone

Megaphone (pronounced meg-uh-fohn)

(1) A cone-shaped device for magnifying or directing the voice, used mostly outdoors when addressing large audiences.

(2) In the figurative sense, suggesting a mouthpiece or promoter; one who speaks for or publicizes on behalf of another.

(3) As megaphone diplomacy, a criticism of international relations conducted inappropriately in public.

(4) In the design of the exhaust systems for internal combustion engines (ICE), devices which are louder than conventionally muffled engines, either by deliberate choice or as a consequence of specific design imperatives.

1878: An Americanism and a compound word, the construct being mega- + -phone.  Mega was from the Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas) (great, large, mighty), from the primitive Indo-European meǵhs (great). It was cognate with the Latin magnus, the Sanskrit मह (maha) (great, massive, large-scale, epic), and with the various Germanic forms, the Gothic (mikils), the Old English micel, the Middle English muchel, the English much, the Old High German mihhil, the Old Norse mikill and the Danish meget.  Phone was from the Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) (sound), from the primitive Indo-European bhohneh, from bheh- (to speak), related to fame.  The modern device for assisting hearing by the magnifying of the voice was invented by Thomas Edison although un-powered instruments with a funnel-like shape had been used at least since Antiquity; in Ancient Greece, megalophonia meant "grandiloquence" and megalophonos, “loud-voiced."  Although the industry notes detail differences, the terms loud-hailer, blowhorn and bullhorn are often used interchangeably.  Megaphone is a noun & adjective, megaphoned & megaphoning are verbs, megaphonic is an adjective and megaphonically is an adverb; the noun plural is megaphones.

Amplifying the message: Diminutive weather forecaster Greta Thunberg (b 2003) with braid and megaphone.

Ms Thunberg's resort to the megaphone to raise the world's interest in the matter of climate change induced by human activity was an example of an attempt to achieve what letters to the editor, press releases and academic papers had failed to effect.  If she's disappointed in what's happened since she became involved that's understandable but it's likely she's achieved more than many more obviously credentialed.  Probably resigned to the sad fact nothing fundamental is likely to change until the crisis hits the point at which the rich start to die or suffer significant financial loss, she'll at least have the satisfaction of being able to say "I told you so" although doubtlessly she'd have preferred a better outcome.

Rendered by Vovsoft as cartoon character: a blonde Lindsay Lohan with megaphone.

In political activism the megaphone can be a helpful tool but in international relations (IR), those matters transacted between governments, "megaphone diplomacy" is a term usually of derision because it so often tends to be pointless or worse, counter-productive.  It's something too often seen when those with no background or training in IR get involved, thinking the tactics learned in advertising or domestic politics can be appropriate when dealing with other countries.  When early in 2020, Scott Morrison (b 1968; Australian prime-minister 2018-2022) publicly called for an investigation into the origin of COVID-19, he suggested recruiting independent investigators akin to “weapons inspectors” to determine the source of major disease outbreaks and said this was "...a very reasonable and sensible course of action”.  In this he was of course correct and had he pursued the matter through normal diplomatic channels, international support might have ensued but using the megaphone did little but anger Beijing which, of course, retaliated by imposing trade sanctions.  That had real consequences for the people Mr Morrison represents and in terms of finding out anything about COVID-19, achieved nothing.  Anyone with a sophisticated understanding of IR could have predicted that was what would happen (had they been asked) but Mr Morrison (from a "marketing" background with all that implies) presumably got to go to his church and, between the clapping, singing and strumming of guitars, tell the congregation he'd stood up to the Godless atheistic Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so there was that.

The Ramcharger Club’s 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe with “ram-charging” intake manifold (a concept soon to be marketed as “SonoRamic”) & “8-into-8 megaphone exhaust” apparatus, circa 1958 (left) and Vandemon’s brushed titanium 4-into-1 exhaust system for Kawasaki Ninja H2 & H2R (right).

Although a blatant tautology, the term “megaphone muffler” does sometimes appear but the apparatus is more correctly a “megaphone exhaust system”, because, far from “muffling the sound”, the things either increase or do little to diminish volume.  Although many were built (especially in times when laws were less intrusive) just to “make noise”, what are regarded as “megaphones” really are devices designed for specific efficiencies, expanding air volume and directing pressure waves upstream, optimizing “back pressure” and consequent exhaust gas expulsion, thereby increasing potential power output.  Although not a new concept, megaphone exhausts made quite an impression in the late 1950s when some of Chrysler's young engineers formed the drag racing-focused Ramchargers Club using, somewhat improbably, a 1949 Plymouth business coupe fitted with a particularly extravagant implementation of the their "ram-charger induction" technology, the surrealistically tall intake manifold a device built for dynamometer testing and never intended for a moving vehicle.  They dubbed the Plymouth "High & Mighty" and while the intake system was allowed by the scrutineers, before long the megaphone exhausts were banned.  Even drag strips have neighbors.

Although as a marketing tool the term “megaphone” widely is deployed, it’s not precisely defined and may be thought something like the judgment Potter Stewart (1915–1985; associate justice of the US Supreme Court 1958-1981) handed down (in another context) in Jacobellis v Ohio (378 U.S. 184 (1964)): “I shall not today attempt further to define… and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so.  But I know it when I see it…”  In other words, if an exhaust system looks like it’s going to produce a lot of noise, it’s reasonable to assume it may be dubbed a "megaphone”, starting-up removing all doubt.  As a wise precaution, on their website Vandemon don’t put their disclaimer in small print:  “Important Notice: Vandemon Exhaust Systems are designed for performance and sound enhancements. They are not compliant with emission standards for street or highway use. Always check local regulations regarding noise emission standards before installation.”  Sound advice, as it were.