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jumbo

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:23 am
by eberntson
A very large person or thing.

Some think it's comes from "mumbo jumbo" , and others think it is from the popularization of the word by Jumbo the elephant when the London Zoo sold him to PT Barnum. The London zookeeper named him probably based on Swahili words jambe or jamba. Worth a read up on this incredible creature and fun word. I once worked on 2 projects at Microsoft code named Dumbo n Jumbo.

Re: jumbo

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 1:11 am
by Philip Hudson
My vote is on the elephant. We have a lot of inexact references to size in English. I like humongous best for great size and itsy-bitsy for small things.

Re: jumbo

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:17 am
by Perry Lassiter
Or you can drop the s: itty bitty.

Re: jumbo

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:05 pm
by Philip Hudson
One could drop the s but then the baby's song, "Itsy bitsy spider" would not sound nearly so cute.

Re: jumbo

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:45 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Not to mention the polka dot bikini.