As Webb’s World of Weird Words enters its fifth week, your local lexicographer still finds himself looking for themes around which to organize these weekly lists of oddball vocabulary.
Since the previous pair covered super-long words (June 6) and then super-short ones (June 13), our next two lists bounce back to broader terms: a selection of hyphenated vocab — a baker’s dozen each this week and next:
Black-a-vised (adjective) – Having a dark complexion; Scottish term related to the more common word “visage,” meaning face or appearance. Also, “black-a-viced.”
Cock-a-hoop (adjective) – Joyfully boastful or exultant; also, off-kilter or askew. For example: “The team was cock-a-hoop after their volleyball victory — even though that last spike knocked Sarah’s glasses cock-a-hoop.”
Fiddle-faddle (noun) – Nonsense, or something unimportant. Also a verb (“quit fiddle-faddling around over there!”); and an interjection expressing frustration or impatience.
Gutta-percha (noun) – The milky juice from a tree of the sapodilla family (another great word); it converts into a hard, rubbery gum used in dental cement, golf balls and water-proofing — among other things.
Higgledy-piggledy (adverb) – Once a common word that is now lesser-known to young folks, this means “in a jumbled or disorderly fashion” — as in, “When our boat capsized, everything went flying higgledy-piggledy.” Possibly derived from the way pigs huddle together. Worthy synonyms include haywire, topsy-turvy and helter-skelter.
Linsey-woolsey (noun) – A coarse cloth, or a garment made from this. The term is derived from two of its typical components — linen and wool.
Mangel-wurzel (noun) – Type of beet used as cattle food; it’s from a German word, with the second half probably related to “wort” — a malt also utilized in food and drink.
Mumblety-peg (noun) – Children’s game in which an open pocket-knife is flipped into the ground, generally as close to the opponent’s foot as possible. According to Wikipedia, it is also known as mumbley-peg, mumblepeg, mumble-the-peg, mumbledepeg or mumble-de-peg.
In any case, mumblety-peg is generally a boys’ game, because females aren’t that stupid. If you were a Boy Scout, I’ll bet your mother still doesn’t know you played this as a kid.
Namby-pamby (adjective) – Weak, indecisive; lacking firmness, character or strength: “Don’t give me that namby-pamby mumbo-jumbo.” Also, a noun for this type of person.
Peely-wally (adjective) – Scots term that means “looking pale or unwell” — as in, “Mom looked kinda peely-wally when she caught us playing mumble-the-peg.”
Raggle-taggle (adjective) – Variation of “ragtag,” meaning messy, shabby or mixed together from various elements (“a raggle-taggle collection of odds and ends”).
Tilly-vally (interjection) – An expression of contempt for something impertinent or unimportant — similar to bosh, balderdash or hogwash. No longer used, it is perhaps best known from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” where it is uttered by the annoyed (and drunken) Sir Toby Belch. Also, “tilly-fally.”
Tucker-box (noun) – Australian term for a food container — probably related to the expression “tuck in,” meaning “eat.” Facebook lists a food truck called “Tuckerbox” in Tyrone, PA; fittingly, it specializes in “Aussie Meat Pies & Sausage Rolls.”
I left out my usual pronunciations here because all these seemed fairly clear. Hope that doesn’t seem hoity-toity — or leave you feeling gob-smacked.
