I coined the word ** snarfle** to mean a confused, convoluted mess.
"There were so many conflicting opinions that all debate was reduced to a noisy snarfle, impossible to unravel."
"I was so uncertain of which course to follow that I ended up in a fearful snarfle of anxious indecision."
"Let's not get into a snarfle about who started what."
That's funny, I use the word snorfle to describe what my big puppy does to delicious-smelling things, like crotches, rotten stuff in gutters and cats.
snarfle,eh?(living up to my Canadian reputation)i like it!!!!!
So as the cliché went forty years ago, run it up the flagpole and see if anybody salutes it. I abstain.
Interesting tsuwm-- i use scarfed rather than snarfed-- as in "I was so upset and depressed, i scarfed a whole pint of Ben & Jerry's"
yoyo9 > coined the word ** snarfle** to mean a confused, convoluted mess.
A new word! Oh, I my heart is all atwizzle! I know the feeling well ... oh! the euphoria when you hear it used.
And given the mess we sometimes get into here, there will be ample opportunity for its use! Congratulations!
Never mind all the similar words ... "I scarfed a pint of ice cream" is often used in New England even though we know the word scoffed is correct.
Then Saill says : snorfle to describe what my big puppy does to delicious-smelling things,
That's a neat word ... similar to what I say for same activity : snuffle!
OK, tsuwm, we have now given you a basket full of entries for wwftd. Except they're handy, aren't they. {leaving now!}
... "I scarfed a pint of ice cream" is often used in New England even though we know the word scoffed is correct
Cambridge International dictionary gives scarf as American variation of scoff. Who scarfed up all the sandwiches?
I know the word scarf also in a woodworking/construction context meaning to fit a piece of wood in an odd shape hole or joint(I think). As in "I chiselled out all the rotten wood in the window sill and scarfed a new piece of wood in".
I eventually found a dictionary with it in (but not quite as I use it):
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. scarfs (skärfs)
1. A joint made by cutting or notching the ends of two pieces correspondingly and strapping or bolting them together. Also called scarf joint. 2. Either of the correspondingly cut or notched ends that fit together to form such a joint.
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: scarfed, scarf·ing, scarfs
1. To join by means of a scarf. 2. To cut a scarf in.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English skarf, as in scarfnail, probably from Old Norse skarfr, end piece of a board cut off on the bias.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Rod
Your coinage, "snarfle", is very like "snafu" in both sound and meaning. Derivative, perhaps subconsciously?
"Snafu" is intriguing in both its ancestry and its extensive progeny.
"Snafu" is intriguing in both its ancestry and its extensive progeny
The first of these is the well know Fubar, beyond all recognition. After that comes beyond understanding. Many of our nation's youth exhibit this even to the point of being explicitly labeled as such.
Remember the thread where someone coined the word "thirstifying"? (I really think that ought to be a word...)
The first of these is the well know Fubar, beyond all recognition. After that comes beyond understanding. Many of our nation's youth exhibit this even to the point of being explicitly labeled as such.
Presumably you presume that "FUBU", a logo on clothing marketed to youth, means "F... Up Beyond Understanding". I'd thought so too. But a knowledgeable youth informs me that FUBU is the name of a clothing company (with its own website), and stands for "For Us By Us.
Whereas SNAFU, stands for "Situation Normal All Fucked Up."
regardless of what Dear Old Dad told you about the situation being all fouled up -- when he came home from the War!
Now can any Vet tell me the actual meaning for FIGMO which I have heard used about people about to separate from the service and who no longer have any interest in anything military!
For example : Officer says "Get PFC Denver to do that"
Sgt replies : "Better not, sir, he's FIGMO."
Officer : "Ah, yes, you're right, get Jones he still has three years to go."
Thanks.
I scarfed a pint of ice cream!
Growing up in Central New Jersey that was a common expression for rapid and copious consumption.
But usually we'd say "Man, he really scarfed it up!...or, "They gave me my food and I was so hungry I scarfed it right down!...along with other small variations of these two.
In Zild (and I think in Britain as well), you say "I found a bowl with two dozen Bluff oysters and scoffed the lot." Or "gutsed the lot".
In NZ, a "scarfie" is a student. It's short for "scarf-dragger", harking back to the days of long scarves dragged along the ground as an affectation.
scoffed the lot
So a perfect case of one word getting varied first by pronunciation then spelling? - in origin 'scoffed' and pronounced skoff't, then variantly pronounced in some dialects as skahff'd, then transliterated as 'scarved' - seems plausible!
For Us By Us.
Well of course, *they'd say that.