hobbledehoy

PRONUNCIATION: (HOB-uhl-dee-hoy)

MEANING: noun: An awkward young fellow.

ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1540.

USAGE:
"Burleigh's breathless accounts of the many figures of the British peerage in the story read as though written by some overawed hobbledehoy, someone who fingers the noblemen's lamé draperies in envious amazement and wonders how much they would go for at Wal-Mart."
Simon Winchester; 'The Nation's Attic'; The Boston Globe; Jan 11, 2004.
____________________________
HOBBLDEJOY - the sheer joy of pulling down the nobleman's lamé draperies and burning them on his front lawn in celebration of the Fourth of July.