A gadfly

I’m described in this week’s Listener as a “gadfly”. It’s one of those words you hear from time to time but the exact meaning is not always clear. So what does it mean.

One definition is:

a persistently annoying person

Another is

A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance

Or

One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.

A term for people who upset the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or attempt to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant

I’ll leave it to others to work out which definition the Listener was intending. I am at least in good company – Plato described Socrates as a gadfly to the Athenian politician scene.