Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

 About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Forums Calendar Active Threads
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Discombooberated
#14792 01/05/01 08:01 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Seattle, Washington, USA
Father Steve Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Father Steve
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Seattle, Washington, USA
Just received an e-mail message from my choir director informing me that the organist's father died and choir practice was cancelled and music plans are changing after the Sunday bulletin has been printed. She concludes: "So, as you can see, our musical plans for Sunday have become quite discombooberated!"

This term does not appear in any of my dictionaries, yet I understand quite well what she means. This must present an additional challenge to ESL folks, having to learn not only the formal English language, but these sorts of made-up words, as well.

Following this week's theme about taking the negative out of words, is a "combooberated" person one who has it all together? Or just both of them together? Or what?
Re: Discombooberated
#14793 01/05/01 08:05 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Northamptonshire, England
Capital Kiwi Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Capital Kiwi
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Northamptonshire, England
Funny - we use "discombobulated". But I figure it means the same thing. Dictionary.com has this to say:

dis·com·bob·u·late (dskm-bby-lt)
v. tr. dis·com·bob·u·lat·ed, dis·com·bob·u·lat·ing, dis·com·bob·u·lates.

To throw into a state of confusion. See Synonyms at confuse.

FWIW



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
Re: Discombooberated
#14794 01/05/01 08:16 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Faldage
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
CapK uses discombobulated

That is certainly the form I learned at my mother(of whichever sex*)'s knee. I suspect a student of ESL would have similar problems with that one. I doubt if it's high on the list of Important Vocabulary Words.

*I think it was my father who used it.
Re: Discombooberated
#14795 01/05/01 08:55 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Northamptonshire, England
Capital Kiwi Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Capital Kiwi
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Northamptonshire, England
I suspect a student of ESL would have similar problems with that one. I doubt if it's high on the list of Important Vocabulary Words.

Granted. Don't think I've used it in conversation ... ever! It would get me branded as uppity, I would imagine.


The idiot also known as Capfka ...
Re: Discombooberated
#14796 01/05/01 08:57 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
I have a friend who speaks and writes using nonce words like this; words like 'contravivulated' and 'goofaglarbian' and 'slipshodderiness' -- you'll not find these in any dictionary, but you know pretty much what he means, in context. (as an aside, he styles himself as jmh; not to be confused with our own).
Re: Discombooberated
#14797 01/05/01 09:03 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
lower upstate New York
AnnaStrophic Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
AnnaStrophic
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
lower upstate New York
The Padre postulates: Following this week's theme about taking the negative out of words, is a "combooberated" person one who has it all together? Or just both of them together?

nota bene: Kaintuck's sleaze police spies are watching.....

(down here in the South of the good ol' US we say 'discombobulated' ... never heard the 'boob' variety.)
Re: Discombooberated
#14798 01/05/01 09:26 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Faldage
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
In reference to discombobulated CapK remarks that using it: "...would get me branded as uppity"

US'ns have always used it in a mock rustic way.
Re: Discombooberated
#14799 01/05/01 09:59 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
B
belMarduk Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
belMarduk
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
I've often heard discombobulated also, but usually from strick non-swearers who do not want to say f****d-up and never from a guy.


Re: Discombooberated
#14800 01/05/01 11:05 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Northamptonshire, England
Capital Kiwi Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Capital Kiwi
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Northamptonshire, England
A "Mock Rustic" approach in Zild would be what Bel has said discombobulated is substituted for in her world. And both sexes would participate these days, I might add.


The idiot also known as Capfka ...
Re: Discombooberated
#14801 01/07/01 02:21 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Jackie Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Jackie
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
is a "combooberated" person one who has it all together? Or just both of them together? Or what?

C'mere a minute, F.S.--I wish to discombooberate you.
Goofaglarbian
#14802 01/07/01 05:01 AM
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
Avy Offline
old hand
Offline
Avy
old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
> I have a friend who speaks and writes using nonce words like this; words like
'contravivulated' and 'goofaglarbian' and 'slipshodderiness'

How would he use Goofaglarbian?


Discombooberated -Scombussolato
#14803 01/07/01 09:27 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
Italy - Perugia is a town with...
E
emanuela Offline
enthusiast
Offline
emanuela
enthusiast
E
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
Italy - Perugia is a town with...
I like this word, and I cannot help myself from offering the Italian word
Scombussolato
which sounds so similar, and has also the same meaning...
Scombussolato means - for example - someone which lost ( the way shown from ) the compass, since
compass = bussola.
Incidentally, I am always wondering if it is not confusing to use the same word compass in English in 2 ways
compass (=Italian bussola) giving North
compass (=italian compasso) drawing circles.
Ciao
Emanuela
Re: Goofaglarbian
#14804 01/07/01 03:43 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
it's a noun, used in the sense of a solecism.

"I am perplexed by this apparent goofaglarbian."
-jmh [John, not Jo]
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
#14805 01/07/01 04:33 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Jackie Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Jackie
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
if it is not confusing to use the same word compass in English in 2 ways

It sure can be, E.--For ex., the sentence, "I used a compass" requires some context in order for us to know which instrument was meant.
Re: Goofaglarbian
#14806 01/08/01 01:18 AM
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
Avy Offline
old hand
Offline
Avy
old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
"I am perplexed by this apparent goofaglarbian."

Nice.
Re: Discombooberated
#14807 01/08/01 03:29 AM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Seattle, Washington, USA
Father Steve Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Father Steve
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Seattle, Washington, USA
When I was a small boy, my English nanny used nonsense words which sounded German, e.g. when one was so tired as to fall asleep in the chair, one was gazor'nenpflap.





Re: Gazor'nenpflap
#14808 01/08/01 02:59 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Faldage
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Gazornen something or other, what was it? Gazornenplatz seems most likely but where did I hear it and what did it mean? Well, to be orthographically correct it should be Gesornenplatz
gazor'nenpflap.
#14809 01/08/01 05:16 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Marion NC
TEd Remington Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
TEd Remington
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Marion NC
Or more likely gesnorenplop???


TEd
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
#14810 01/09/01 07:31 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Jakarta
B
Bingley Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Bingley
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Jakarta
Isn't the hinged instrument for drawing circles a pair of compasses? Of course you could just draw round the rim of direction-finder.

Bingley

Bingley
Encompassed
#14811 01/09/01 04:01 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Jackie Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Jackie
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Isn't the hinged instrument for drawing circles a pair of compasses?

Not here. Both I and my children were told to buy
a compass and protractor for math class.
Re: Encompassed
#14812 01/09/01 06:49 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Max Quordlepleen Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Max Quordlepleen
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Jackie said . Both I and my children were told to buy
a compass and protractor for math class.

I also, but with the addition of an "s".



Re: Encompassed
#14813 01/09/01 07:48 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
rego park
of troy Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
of troy
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
rego park
Thank you, e, for
In reply to:

Scombussolato which sounds so similar, and has also the same meaning...
Scombussolato means - for example - someone which lost ( the way shown from ) the compass, since compass = bussola.

Discombobulated entered english about the time of WWI-(according to M-W 10th) and it might well have been taken almost right from the italian..

And as for compass-- it is singular in NY, too, so i agree with Jackie-- a compass.


my other obsession
Re: Encompassed
#14814 01/09/01 08:26 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
B
Bobyoungbalt Offline
veteran
Offline
Bobyoungbalt
veteran
B
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
Compass(es)
I have to go with Max. I was taught (as were most people I know) that the drawing instrument is a compasses; a compass is a navigational tool. (and the construction of that sentence is a chiasmus.)
Re: Encompassed
#14815 01/09/01 08:32 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
jmh
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
>I have to go with Max

Yes, I'd put an "s" on Math too!
Re: Encompassed
#14816 01/09/01 09:01 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Max Quordlepleen Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Max Quordlepleen
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Thanks, Jo. Bob, being a "math" person, missed my oblique dig. I was told to buy a compass, sans added "es", for my maths classes.


Re: Encompassed
#14817 01/11/01 09:26 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393
London
N
NicholasW Offline
enthusiast
Offline
NicholasW
enthusiast
N
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393
London
a compasses ??

A compass, or a pair of compasses -- my own maths days when we actually used those are so far away they were probably in Latin. To me a circle is just {(x,y): (x + a)^2 + (y+b)^2 = r^2}, none of this mucking around with dull sublunary approximations.

And of course the locus classicus is:

If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Re: Encompassed
#14818 01/11/01 11:27 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
lower upstate New York
AnnaStrophic Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
AnnaStrophic
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
lower upstate New York
Nicholas truncates:
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;

I'm holding my breath
And may start to turn blue


Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
#14819 01/14/01 12:05 PM
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 8
Milan, Italy
P
pgrew Offline
stranger
Offline
pgrew
stranger
P
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 8
Milan, Italy
In reply to:
>> Scombussolato which sounds so similar, and has also the same meaning...
>> Scombussolato means - for example - someone which lost ( the way shown from ) the compass, since
>> compass = bussola.
>> ...Incidentally, I am always wondering if it is not confusing to use the same word compass in English
>> in 2 ways
> Discombobulated entered english about the time of WWI-(according to M-W 10th) and it might well
> have been taken almost right from the italian..
The similarity of these two words is, in my analysis, a felicitous coincidence. As Emanuela rightly points out, the seventeenth-century Italian scombussolare is (at least mostly) rooted in bussola, which means a direction-finding compass and is cognate with English "box" (as compasses were once made of wood).

In the early Renaissance Mediterranean, celestial navigation relied on the juxtaposition of the two sorts of compasses (the magnetic needle floating in a box of liquid and the pivoted instrument also known as a pair of dividers) and metonomy allowed for the trasfer of the name for the former object to the latter, in English. Maritime terminology was a great source of loan words from even before the Crusades until the industrial revolution in this region. A sailor who had lost his compass (in either sense) would certainly have been at sea.

My theory is that the metaphorical image underlying "discombobulation" is entirely different. I suspect this word may ultimately hark back to the idea of thread (or wire) coming off a bobbin (cf. haywire). There does not seem to me to be any evidence of borrowing from Italian. BTW, Merriam-Webster missed their mark in dating discombobulate and its variants such as discombobberate (cited OED 1838). These words are fanciful, early-nineteenth-century, American coinages on a par with other Latinate slang the likes of absquatulate and...

...someone give me another example, please.

chow,
- ph
Re: Discombooberated
#14820 01/15/01 12:41 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 35
C
Chickie Offline
newbie
Offline
Chickie
newbie
C
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 35
Have also heard this used as "discombobulated".

"Adversity is the whetstone of creativity"
Ooh A linguist.
#14821 01/15/01 04:34 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Faldage
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Welcome, pgrew. We need someone like you here.

P.S. Ænigma (q.v. http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=9694&page=&view=&sb=&vc=1#Post9694) converts you to Phaedra.
Re: Discombooberated
#14822 01/16/01 06:53 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Chicago
musick Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
musick
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Chicago
"Repetition is the whetstone of Boredom"

JK
Re: Discombooberated
#14823 01/21/01 12:04 AM
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
Sydney Australia
B
Bridget Offline
addict
Offline
Bridget
addict
B
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
Sydney Australia
I've often heard discombobulated also, but usually from strick non-swearers who do not want to say f****d-up and never from a guy.

My father uses this word frequently. He also swears like a trooper and to the best of my knowledge is a guy! Then again, I have never claimed that any member of my family is 'normal'...
Re: Discombooberated
Father Steve #168646 06/12/07 01:22 PM
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1
I
iPox Offline
stranger
Offline
iPox
stranger
I
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1
There is an episode of the Twilight Zone where the main character is named James WB Beavis. He gets a guardian angle that straitens out his life... Anyway, Rod Serling in the beginning refers to James WB Beavis as being "discombooberated".
Re: Discombooberated
iPox #168647 06/12/07 01:43 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
lower upstate New York
AnnaStrophic Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
AnnaStrophic
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
lower upstate New York
Welcome, iPox! How did you dig up such an old thread??
Re: Discombooberated
Faldage #168648 06/12/07 02:00 PM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Vermont
Buffalo Shrdlu Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Buffalo Shrdlu
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Vermont
Originally Posted By: Faldage
Gazornen something or other, what was it? Gazornenplatz seems most likely but where did I hear it and what did it mean? Well, to be orthographically correct it should be Gesornenplatz<br><br>


wow. I have said gesorgenplatz for some time now, and I have no idea when and where I first heard it.

right up there with murgatroyd..

howdy, iPox, and thanks for digging this up. fun!

formerly known as etaoin...
Re: Discombooberated
AnnaStrophic #168650 06/12/07 03:06 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
Originally Posted By: AnnaStrophic
Welcome, iPox! How did you dig up such an old thread??


google possibly?
Re: Discombooberated
Buffalo Shrdlu #168655 06/12/07 06:44 PM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456
SE US
Aramis Offline
addict
Offline
Aramis
addict
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456
SE US
That must have been written at least once as Gesnorin'platz.

ÅΓª╥┐↕§
Re: Discombooberated
iPox #184048 03/31/09 10:30 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
Originally Posted By: iPox
There is an episode of the Twilight Zone where the main character is named James WB Beavis. He gets a guardian angle that straitens out his life... Anyway, Rod Serling in the beginning refers to James WB Beavis as being "discombooberated".


from the department of everything eventually gets documented dept...
"In the parlance of the twentieth century, this is an oddball. His name is James B.W. Bevis, and his tastes lean toward stuffed animals, zither music, professional football, Charles Dickens, moose heads, carnivals, dogs, children, and young ladies. Mr. Bevis is accident prone, a little vague, a little discombooberated, with a life that possesses all the security of a floating crap game. But this can be said of our Mr. Bevis: without him, without his warmth, without his kindness, the world would be a considerably poorer place, albeit perhaps a little saner... Should it not be obvious by now, James B.W. Bevis, on whom Dame Fortune will shortly turn her back, but not before she gives him a paste in the mouth. Mr. James B.W. Bevis, just a block away from the Twilight Zone."
-Rod Serling 6/30/60

DARE records discombooberated as a variant of discombobolated, discomboberated from 1943.

Last edited by tsuwm; 03/31/09 10:50 PM. Reason: DARE I mention
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
pgrew #197002 02/04/11 07:10 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
Originally Posted By: pgrew
These words are fanciful, early-nineteenth-century, American coinages on a par with other Latinate slang the likes of absquatulate and...

...someone give me another example, please.

chow,
- ph




(this thread needs to be postrevivified every 2 or 6 years)

Originally Posted By: H. L. Mencken
Yet again, there are the purely artificial words, eg, sockdolager, hunkydory, scalawag, guyascutis, sponduluc, slumgullion, rambunctious, scrumptious, to skedaddle, to absquatulate and to exfluncticate.


so..

"The frontiersman, ring-tailed roarer, half horse and
half alligator, described himself as kankarriferous
and rambunctious, his lady love as angeliferous and
splendiferous. With consummate ease he could
teetotaciously exfluncticate his opponent in a
conbobberation, that is to say a conflict or
disturbance, or ramsquaddle him bodaciously, after
which the luckless fellow would absquatulate."
- A. Marckwardt, American English (1980)

coming next week to a wwftd near you..
exfluncticate - to overcome, beat thoroughly; to crush
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
tsuwm #197003 02/04/11 07:16 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
BTW, if you've ever wondered why I continue to denigrate the UD, just plug combooberated (as suggested in the OP) into OneLook..
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Father Steve #197014 02/05/11 04:23 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Jackie Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Jackie
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Augh--they can't spell!
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Jackie #197031 02/05/11 12:37 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Faldage
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Umm... Jackie?

No, I won't tell you.
It's so refreshing to see your innocence.
Re: Discombooberated
Buffalo Shrdlu #197054 02/05/11 10:22 PM
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 963
Alaska
Tromboniator Offline
old hand
Offline
Tromboniator
old hand
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 963
Alaska
Originally Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu
[quote=Faldage]Gazornen something or other, what was it? Gazornenplatz seems most likely but where did I hear it and what did it mean? Well, to be orthographically correct it should be Gesornenplatz



Back in the '60s, I think it was, comedian Bob Newhart had a schtick about an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters reproducing Hamlet. One of them typed, "To be or not to be: that is the gesorgenplatz." I've quoted it many times over the years. Sorry to have taken so long finding this thread.

Discombobulated is definitely part of my vocabulary, and I use it without pretense. Its connotation is that something is so hopelessly tangled or damaged beyond repair that it's almost funny, that maybe if we give it a good whack it will right itself, but not likely.

Peter

Last edited by Tromboniator; 02/05/11 10:26 PM.
Re: Discombooberated
Tromboniator #197055 02/05/11 11:16 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
"To be or not to be: that is the gesorgenplatz."

ha! I'd forgotten this bit. not surprisingly, I find this via google with another spelling: "To be, or not to be, that is the gesornenplatz..."

but this is just a quiddle[sic], and it serves to remind me of another comedy bit, from the Blackadder series:

Blackadder: Oh, well, in that case, sir, I hope you
will not object if I also offer the Doctor my most
enthusiastic contrafibularities.
Dr. Samuel Johnson: What?
Blackadder: '"Contrafribularites", sir? It is a common
word down our way.
Dr. Samuel Johnson: Damn! [writes in the book]
- Edmund Blackadder, Blackadder the Third
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Faldage #197058 02/06/11 01:14 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Jackie Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Jackie
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
It's so refreshing to see your innocence. Hmph. I say, even if you're posting pornography, it ought to be spelled correctly! With correct punctuation. laugh
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Father Steve #197062 02/06/11 01:25 AM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Vermont
Buffalo Shrdlu Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Buffalo Shrdlu
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Vermont
gesorgenplatz!! I use that word all the time! I have always wondered where I picked it up.

formerly known as etaoin...
Discombobulated again
tsuwm #197063 02/06/11 01:50 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,534
Likes: 1
Worcester, MA
W
wofahulicodoc Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
wofahulicodoc
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,534
Likes: 1
Worcester, MA
While we're giving Earliest Printed Appearances: In 1940-41 Robert Heinlein wrote, and Astounding SF published, a three-part serial named Sixth Column, reprinted by Signet Books in 1951 as "The Day After Tomorrow," a novel about USA after being conquered by the (thinly-veiled) Japanese, and the remnants of the Army fighting back under the Occupation, masquerading as a religion. Using slang to confound the eavesdropping authorities (who can hear only his end of the conversation), right here on Page 124 of the paperback the Commander says to his staff,

"Look, cherubs--mamma wants baby to go to the nice man. It's all hunkydory as long as baby-bunting carries his nice new rattle. Yea, verily, rattle is the watchword--you don't and they do. Deal this cold deck the way it's stacked and the chopstick laddies are stonkered and discombobulated. The stiff upper lip does it." [emphasis mine]

Which the guy at the other end of the line translates, just in case the reader didn't get it either, "Check me if I'm wrong, Chief. You want the priests to give themselves up, and to rattle the PanAsians by their apparent unconcern. You want them to carry it off the way you did, cool as a cucumber, and bold as brass. I also take it that you want them to hang on to their staffs [clandestine super-weapons], but not to use them unless you tell them to. Is that right?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson."

(And so the rebellion proceeds.)
Re: Discombobulated again
wofahulicodoc #197065 02/06/11 02:31 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
I don't think anyone had claimed earliest (until just now) - that credit would have to go to one of these: discombobulated

or even one of these:
1834 Sun (N.Y.) 21 Mar. 2/3 May be some of you don't get discombobracated.
1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 14 While you tear the one, you'll discombobberate the nerves of the other.
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Jackie #197072 02/06/11 11:49 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Faldage
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Originally Posted By: Jackie
It's so refreshing to see your innocence. Hmph. I say, even if you're posting pornography, it ought to be spelled correctly! With correct punctuation. laugh


Umm... Yeah. Innocence. That's the way it's normally spelled given the meaning.
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Buffalo Shrdlu #197099 02/07/11 01:52 AM
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
Avy Offline
old hand
Offline
Avy
old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
I discussed this word with a German yesterday. He said he did not know of this word as a German word. I told him of the British Nanny thing. He said it must be "gesnorgenplatz" the place where one snores.
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Faldage #197101 02/07/11 01:58 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Jackie Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Jackie
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Louisville, Kentucky
Well--I won't copy the homophonic spelling here, but see what else it has: even if it IS all 'messied up'.
Re: Discombooberated -Scombussolato
Avy #197105 02/07/11 03:20 AM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,916
Likes: 2
Land of the Flat Water
LukeJavan8 Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
LukeJavan8
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,916
Likes: 2
Land of the Flat Water
"gesnorgenplatz" - I like this: the place where one snores.
I am looking forward to it this eve: long day.

----please, draw me a sheep----
Re: Discombooberated
iPox #197172 02/08/11 08:40 PM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456
SE US
Aramis Offline
addict
Offline
Aramis
addict
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456
SE US
Now see how the back-formation thing can get dangerous? One can only imagine how one (who is capable) might "booberate". Jackie? whistle

ÅΓª╥┐↕§
Re: Discombooberated
Aramis #197173 02/08/11 09:15 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
this is by no means (I'm sure) the last word on the subject, but here's what The Word Detective had to say back in 2005:

In any case, if your dictionary doesn't list "discombobulate," you definitely need a new dictionary†. However, your search for "combobulate" will come up dry in even the best dictionary, because "combobulate" by itself isn't a word. "Discombobulate," meaning "to throw into a state of confusion, to disturb or disorient," is an invented word apparently formed as a joking alteration of "discompose" or "discomfit," both slightly musty terms for confusing or upsetting a person. "Discombobulate" first appeared around 1834.

† - heh. I often used the word 'smegma' as the criterion for this.

Last edited by tsuwm; 02/08/11 09:20 PM.
Re: Discombooberated
tsuwm #197186 02/09/11 02:49 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Faldage
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Originally Posted By: tsuwm


† - heh. I often used the word 'smegma' as the criterion for this.


Mine has always been 'zarf'.
Re: Discombooberated
Faldage #197187 02/09/11 03:19 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
tsuwm
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
this too shall pass
Originally Posted By: Faldage
Originally Posted By: tsuwm


† - heh. I often used the word 'smegma' as the criterion for this.


Mine has always been 'zarf'.


oh dear.. that disqualifies MW-CD and W3!!
Re: Discombooberated
Father Steve #197194 02/09/11 12:57 PM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Vermont
Buffalo Shrdlu Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Buffalo Shrdlu
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Vermont
smegma!

O.o

formerly known as etaoin...
Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,317
Members9,182
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 706 guests, and 1 robot.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,534
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5