KERFUFFLE
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 11:08 pm
• kerfuffle •
Pronunciation: kêr-fê-fêl • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A scuffle, a tussle. 2. A fuss, a ruffling of feathers.
Notes: The mystery surrounding today's Good Word (see Word History) also shrouds its spelling. Common spellings include kafuffle, kurfuffle, carfuffle, and curfuffle, which the Oxford English Dictionary prefers. The first element of the US spelling we have chosen may have been influenced by the colloquial prefix used to indicate loudness, such as kerflop, kerplunk, kersplash.
In Play: Today's word refers to a physical outbreak that leaves the clothes disheveled: "Hans Orf raised quite a kerfuffle when the dashing Lance Sterling kissed Hans's date at the party." Metaphoric usage, of course, reduces the impact of words referring to physical action: "During the kerfuffle over who was going to get the last piece of fried chicken, the dog grabbed it and ran away."
Word History: Today's Good Word, like so many that come down to us from the land of the kilts, is a wee bit mysterious. In Scotland, fuffle means to "to ruffle" or "become ruffled", probably an onomatopoeic word. The first part may be Gaelic car "bend, twist, wrong", also found in car-shúil "rolling eye" and car-tuaitheal "wrong turn". But who knows for sure? In the end it remains another secret of the kilts. (Today's Good Word comes from a suggestion by Gareth "Garzo" Hughes, the Vicar of Wiltshire in the West country of England, who is currently studying the Syriac language, a descendant of Aramaic, and sharing his views at our Agora.)
Pronunciation: kêr-fê-fêl • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A scuffle, a tussle. 2. A fuss, a ruffling of feathers.
Notes: The mystery surrounding today's Good Word (see Word History) also shrouds its spelling. Common spellings include kafuffle, kurfuffle, carfuffle, and curfuffle, which the Oxford English Dictionary prefers. The first element of the US spelling we have chosen may have been influenced by the colloquial prefix used to indicate loudness, such as kerflop, kerplunk, kersplash.
In Play: Today's word refers to a physical outbreak that leaves the clothes disheveled: "Hans Orf raised quite a kerfuffle when the dashing Lance Sterling kissed Hans's date at the party." Metaphoric usage, of course, reduces the impact of words referring to physical action: "During the kerfuffle over who was going to get the last piece of fried chicken, the dog grabbed it and ran away."
Word History: Today's Good Word, like so many that come down to us from the land of the kilts, is a wee bit mysterious. In Scotland, fuffle means to "to ruffle" or "become ruffled", probably an onomatopoeic word. The first part may be Gaelic car "bend, twist, wrong", also found in car-shúil "rolling eye" and car-tuaitheal "wrong turn". But who knows for sure? In the end it remains another secret of the kilts. (Today's Good Word comes from a suggestion by Gareth "Garzo" Hughes, the Vicar of Wiltshire in the West country of England, who is currently studying the Syriac language, a descendant of Aramaic, and sharing his views at our Agora.)
