doggerel

The word 'doggerel' emerged in Middle English, directly employing the common animal term 'dog' as a metaphor for something of low value or held in contempt. The addition of the diminutive suffix '-el' created a term for a trivial or inferior category of verse. This pejorative formation reflects a long-standing tradition of using 'dog' attributively to denote something bad or sham, as seen in terms like 'dog Latin'. Thus, the literal components 'dog' + 'little thing' evolved to specifically denote poetry that is irregular, crude, or lacking in artistic merit.

Structure: dogger (dog) + el (diminutive/pejorative suffix) - dogger: Derived from Middle English 'dogge' (dog), of Germanic origin. In this compound, it functions as a pejorative base, implying something worthless or contemptible. - el: A Middle English diminutive suffix, often used to form nouns. Here, it adds a sense of being a lesser or trivial type.