It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Codswallop



Back in 2009, Robert Beard, AKA Dr. Goodword on the alphaDictionary.com website, announced his personal list of the funniest words in English.

 Dr. Beard's selection of the funniest words includes the likes of "absquatulate," "bowyangs," "collywobbles," "gongoozle," "hemidemisemiquaver," and "snollygoster."

"This was what I was born to do," Dr. Beard. "After 40 years of scientific research in the workings of words, I finally felt that I was ready to take my thoughts and ideas to a world-wide general audience."

Here are the words with some comments added per Your Host:

Abibliophobia - The fear of running out of reading material. [Been there, had that!]
Absquatulate - To leave or abscond with something.
Allegator - Someone who alleges. [After a while crocodile]
Anencephalous - Lacking a brain. [Biting my tongue to avoid naming political names]
Argle-bargle - A loud row or quarrel.
Batrachomyomachy - Making a mountain out of a molehill.
Billingsgate - Loud, raucous profanity.
Bloviate - To speak pompously or brag. [AKA Congressional Record]
Blunderbuss - A gun with a flared muzzle or disorganized activity. [Or a member of congress]
Borborygm - A rumbling of the stomach.
Boustrophedon - A back and forth pattern.
Bowyang - A strap that holds the pants legs in place.
Brouhaha - An uproar. [Congressional Record. See bloviate]
Bumbershoot - An umbrella.
Callipygian - Having an attractive rear end or nice buns.[For one brief shining moment ...]
Canoodle - To hug and kiss.
Cantankerous - Testy, grumpy.
Catercornered - Diagonal(ly).
Cockalorum - A small, haughty man. [See blunderbuss]
Cockamamie - Absurd, outlandish. [See blunderbuss]
Codswallop - Nonsense, balderdash.
[See blunderbuss] 
Collop - A slice of meat or fold of flab. [See blunderbuss] 
Collywobbles - Butterflies in the stomach.
Comeuppance - Just reward, just deserts.
Crapulence - Discomfort from eating or drinking too much.
Crudivore - An eater of raw food.
Discombobulate - To confuse.
Donnybrook - An melee, a riot. [See bloviate]
Doozy - Something really great.
Dudgeon - A bad mood, a huff. [Suitable for leaving in]
Ecdysiast - An exotic dancer, a stripper.
Eructation - A burp, belch.
Fard - Face-paint, makeup.
Fartlek - An athletic training regime. [Due to excessive exercise after eating beans?]
Fatuous - Unconsciously foolish. [Again, biting my tongue as per anencephalous]
Filibuster - Refusal to give up the floor in a debate to prevent a vote.
Firkin - A quarter barrel or small cask.
Flibbertigibbet - Nonsense, balderdash. [A will-o'-the-wisp, a clown. Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?]
Flummox - To exasperate.
Folderol - Nonsense.
[See blunderbuss] 
Formication - The sense of ants crawling on your skin. [See blunderbuss] 
 Fuddy-duddy - An old-fashioned, mild-mannered person. [See blunderbuss] 
Furbelow - A fringe or ruffle. [Or a guy who shaves his chest but not ...]
Furphy - A portable water-container.
Gaberlunzie - A wandering beggar. [Member of Congress]
Gardyloo! - A warning shouted before throwing water from above.
Gastromancy - Telling fortune from the rumblings of the stomach.
Gazump - To buy something already promised to someone else.
Gobbledygook - Nonsense, balderdash.
[See blunderbuss] 
Gobemouche - A highly gullible person.
Godwottery - Nonsense, balderdash. [See gobbledygook, then blunderbuss]
Gongoozle - To stare at, kibitz.
Gonzo - Far-out journalism. [See Fox News]
Goombah - An older friend who protects you. [So, not a daddy?]
Hemidemisemiquaver - A musical timing of 1/64.[OMG, I am always saying hemidemisemi!]
Hobbledehoy - An awkward or ill-mannered young boy.
Hocus-pocus - Deceitful sleight of hand.
Hoosegow - A jail or prison.
Hootenanny - A country or folk music get-together.
Jackanapes - A rapscallion, hooligan.
Kerfuffle - Nonsense, balderdash. [Okay, I am going to quit referring to blunderbuss. You get it.]
Klutz - An awkward, stupid person.
La-di-da - An interjection indicating that something is pretentious. [I'm off to play the grand piano!]
Lagopodous - Like a rabbit's foot. [You mean lucky?]
Lickety-split - As fast as possible.
Lickspittle - A servile person, a toady.
Logorrhea - Loquaciousness, talkativeness. [Who, me?]
Lollygag - To move slowly, fall behind.
Malarkey - Nonsense, balderdash.
Maverick - A loner, someone outside the box.
Mollycoddle - To treat too leniently.
Mugwump - An independent politician who does not follow any party. [You mean Tea Party?]
Mumpsimus - An outdated and unreasonable position on an issue. [Again, you mean Tea Party?]
Namby-pamby - Weak, with no backbone.
Nincompoop - A foolish person.
Oocephalus - An egghead.
Ornery - Mean, nasty, grumpy.
Pandiculation - A full body stretch.
Panjandrum - Someone who thinks himself high and mighty.
Pettifogger - A person who tries to befuddle others with his speech.
Pratfall - A fall on one's rear.
Quean - A disreputable woman. [Does an anti-monarchist think a queen is a quean?]
Rambunctious - Aggressive, hard to control.
Ranivorous - Frog-eating
Rigmarole - Nonsense, unnecessary complexity.
Shenanigan - A prank, mischief.
Sialoquent - Spitting while speaking.
Skedaddle - To hurry somewhere.
Skullduggery - No good, underhanded dealing.
Slangwhanger - A loud abusive speaker or obnoxious writer.
Smellfungus - A perpetual pessimist. [Well, if you smell fungus all the time, how could you be hopeful?]
Snickersnee - A long knife.
Snollygoster - A person who can't be trusted. [Again, Tea Party?]
Snool - A servile person.
Tatterdemalion - A child in rags.
Troglodyte - Someone or something that lives in a cave.
Turdiform - Having the form of a lark. [Not the same as a Turd Blossom]
Unremacadamized - Having not been repaved with macadam.
Vomitory - An exit or outlet.
Wabbit - Exhausted, tired, worn out. [Or a wascally animal]
Widdershins - In a contrary or counterclockwise direction.
Yahoo - A rube, a country bumpkin.

@ - The "at" sign.

1 comment:

  1. He/you missed one of my personal favorites: blatherskite -- a person who blathers a lot; a person given to voluble and empty talk.
    Again, works for most politicians.

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