Lampoon actually sounds quite amusing, I don’t know why the long ‘oo’ sound should amuse, but it seems to; apparently it comes from the French word meaning to drink, so lampon – lampons, let’s drink! it means to satirize, usually but not always in a light and good-humoured way, in jest maybe. The verb is lamper, meaning to gulp down and it in turn is originally from German roots. The word itself is probably about three hundred years old, but the idea of lampoon in words or verse or cartoon, goes way back to the ancient Greeks.
To lamp someone in English means to hit them mightily with your fist, usually in the face; it can also mean to guide someone by using a lamp, or to go out hunting at night and startle your prey by shining a lamp on them (which sounds rather mean to me) All these meanings come from lamp, from Old French, from Latin, from Greek meaning to shine.
Lampoon and lamp, two words of the day!
Lois Elsden 