deportment • dih-PORT-munt • noun*

: the manner in which one conducts oneself : behavior

Usage:

Dallas Cowboys cornerback “Pacman” Jones, who has the deportment of a drug-dependent, hyperactive, melodramatic, sex-charged, ignoramic, immoral, desensitized, television-reared doofus (also: the average teen), finished his league-mandated alcohol counseling, returned to Dallas, and is awaiting the NFL’s decision on his reinstatement.

Did You Know?

Deportment did not originate from some stupid idea of misspeaking or silly accents. No German sea captain wanted a tic tac on the left side of his ship and exclaimed — in what would be acceptable manners — “I Vant de port mint!” (nor did Dracula, if you were wondering).

Deportment has very humble beginnings and is formed from the root word deport. In the early 1900s, when immigration laws were unheard of, people were deported based solely on behavior, not race or heritage. Interestingly, white athletes would often get out of line and were deported, which is how baseball was brought to Japan. Likewise, other countries would do the same. This is how the U.S. was introduced to soccer, despite many attempts to cure the nation of the sport. Look it up.

*m-w.com

The Pete

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