Some – particularly any Lancastrians that might be browsing here – may be surprised to see a word like this on a website that would wish to appeal to a family audience.
Let the Urban Dictionary explain: "Cack means shit in Lancashire. It comes from the Flemish kakken=to shit. Centuries ago, Flemish weavers were imported to Lancashire."
If we are to believe Wikipedia, however, the English word 'kakistocracy' is derived from the Greek word kakistos, meaning 'worst' (as well as kratos, meaning 'rule'). Wikipedia cites The Best Words, by Robert Hartwell Fiske, which gives the definition for 'kakistocracy' that Wikipedia has clearly borrowed, and gives three examples of its usage – the earliest being by Thomas Love Peacock (an English novelist, poet, close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley, and official of the East India Company) in 1829.
The Best Words doesn't mention the Greek origin of the word, but Google Translate does agree that kakis is the Greek word for 'bad' – so I'm prepared to believe that kakistos is its superlative, meaning 'worst'.
It all seems a bit of a coincidence. The Flemish link may or may not be a red herring (the Urban Dictionary is one of those websites that I'm always reluctant to believe without corroboration), but I can't help wondering whether the Lancashire dialect word is in some way related to the Greek word for 'bad'.
© Haydn Thompson 2021