|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
A chum just sent me an e-mail message in which he explained his absence from the net for a few days by saying that a parasite got into his computer and it "went kafluey." I have heard this word a number of times, usually in connection with machinery which is misbehaving, and always in a form like going kafluey, gone kafluey or went kafluey. Surely this is not a dictionary word but, just as surely, I know what it means.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I would spell it kaflooey, but maybe that's a regional thang... 
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
I thought it was spelled kerflooey, and I believe I've seen it in a dictionary before. For me, it's the stage of misoperation right before kaputt.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Well, I went agoogling and didn't find a dictionary definition, but I did find this amusing page in which kaflooey (my favored spelling)can be found in a definition. http://www.newmex.com/ebear/dictionary.htmlSeveral words are offered as the "real" word...flooey, kablooey and kaplooey are all variants.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
I would spell it kaflooey ...
I thought it was spelled kerflooey ...
One of the truly wonderful things about extra-dictionarial words is that one may spell them however one chooses.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
it can be found online here: http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0504546.htmland it makes one appearance in OED2+ under the entry for 'makee' (which is identified as "pidgin English"); 1992 Newsweek 25 May 91/1 Only under extreme provocation does he unlimber his arsenal and makee kerflooey on the various scumbags that litter his path to peace.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
yah, I've seen kerflooey, too. that made me think of kerchoo, and that made me think of kerchief. what's up with ker?
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Wasn't there a comic strip or Saturday morning cartoon in the world of Calvin and Hobbes with the name Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooey?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619 |
one may spell them however one chooses
Yes, however you spell them, they never lose their spell.
Sometimes I think we are studied to the point of aspfixiation.
A misspelled word can distract from the purity of the thought.
Words that have no proper spelling are seen immediately for what they really are.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Let's not get in a kerfuffle over it.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooey was the book which the little boy wanted read to him at bedtime every night.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Ah, yes! Thank you F. Steve.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
member
|
|
member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164 |
Ok, I knew I had seen this word some where so I went and looked in my little pocket dictionary and this is what it said.
ker••floo••ey
Pronunciation: (kur-fl OO'E ), [key]
——adv. go kerflooey,
Informal.to cease functioning, esp. suddenly and completely; fall apart; fail: As soon as the storm hit, every light in town went kerflooey.
Once I found this I knowticed that above it was this definition for Ker, so in answer to your question of what Ker is Etaoin here you go:
ker-
an unstressed syllable prefixed to onomatopoeic and other expressive words, usually forming adverbs or interjections: kerflop; kerplunk; ker-splosh.
Also, ca-,ka-.
Rev. Alimae
Rev. Alimae
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Oooo, I had a Kerplunk when I was a kid. Drove my parents batty all those marbles falling when you took out the wrong stick.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619 |
ker-
an unstressed syllable prefixed to onomatopoeic and other expressive words, usually forming adverbs or interjections: kerflop; kerplunk; ker-splosh.
Also "kertains".
Any kerflop, kerplunk, ker-splosh or even kerfluffle which becomes more than simply a mess for someone to clean up is "kertains" in the end for somebody.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Here is a picture of that with which Bel played as a child: http://www.toyadz.com/toyadz/ideal/kerplunk.htmlP.S. This is my 800th post. Please hold your applause.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
an unstressed syllable prefixed to onomatopoeic and other expressive wordshuh. so it really doesn't mean anything. cool. thanks, Ellie May. more than I knew before...
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619 |
This is my 800th post. Please hold your applause.Let the music play! And every single (one) was a homerun, Father Steve. P.S. Do u get to take your batting average with you when you switch jerseys? BTW gadflies only keep track of 'near misses'. I had a close call just the other day. Almost knocked me out for the season. There's always someone swinging at a gadfly. Everyone thinks they've got a score to settle, especially your heavy hitters*. Gnat King Cole used to say: "It's Gnat for everyone." *We don't much bother with anyone else. A gnat gets a rush out of fanning the guy with the biggest stick. A gadfly is nature's way of keeping everything in balance. It's called gnatural justice.We like to say "The bigger they come, the harder they fall." A gnat is a slugger's biggest fan. Little things count a lot ... even if they don't count for much.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Oops, the link doesn't work F.S. And here I was, all excited.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
The whole "toyadz" website is down, for some reason. Perhaps they are dusting the toys. Be patient.
Padre
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Visualize a funnel standing on a tray. The top part filled with marbles. The part where the neck narrows has a lot of sticks protruding. The idea is to remove a stick without letting a marble fall through onto the tray. Does that help?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Actually Wow, it was more like a long tube, about four inches in diameter, fourteen of fifteen inches high.
There was a band around the middle with hundreds of little holes where you would stick in "pick-up" sticks at different angles.
Once all the sticks were in, you'd put a load of marbels through the hole at the top and they'd be held back by the pick-up sticks.
Each person would take a turn removing a stick. As more sticks were removed, marbles would start to fall through the ever-growing cracks.
The person with the least amount of marbles at the end of the game would win.
The BIG loser was the one that removed that one pick-up stick that held most of the marbles up high, and they'd all come crashing down, creating an uproar.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
member
|
|
member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164 |
Yep! That is what I remember playing. Thank you for the link Father Steve.
Rev. Alimae
Rev. Alimae
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,915
Posts230,287
Members9,208
| |
Most Online4,606
Sep 17th, 2025
|
|
|
|
