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recalcitrant

1. (adjective)   not susceptible to control or authority; unmanageable or obstinate
2. (noun)  a recalcitrant person; one who is difficult to control

 History: 19th century: via French, from Latin recalcitrare, from RE +  calcitrare, to kick, originally from calx, heel

 Example: Mrs Ford: “It’s one thing having to put up with recalcitrant  pupils – but now some of the teachers are showing the same  tendencies!”

bushisms

 (noun) unconventional words, phrases, pronunciations or errors spoken  by the 43rd President of the United States, George W Bush (served  two terms: 2000-2008).
 Bushisms can also state such obvious facts that we are surprised we  didn’t think of them before.
 Bush was, and is, perhaps more remembered for his bushisms than for  anything else during his presidency.
 Good examples include:
      “They misunderestimated me”
       “I think war is a dangerous place”
      “I know the human being and the fish can co-exist peacefully” 

guddle

1. (verb)   to catch fish with the hands by groping under water
2. (verb)   to dabble in the water like a duck
3. (verb)   to play in the gutters, mud or puddles
4. (verb)   to do work of a dirty or greasy nature
5. (noun)  a mess, muddle or confusion
6. (noun)  a person who does things in a messy,   slovenly way
7. (verb)   to stab or hack at a body
8. (noun)  a crowbar or pointed iron bar for making holes in fence posts

 History: Scots: mainly uncertain, but some definitions from the English  muddle and puddle

 Example: “Mrs Ford accused me of having a guddled desk worse than  the inside of a third year’s sports bag.”    here.

fluke

History:  From Old Saxon flaka (sole) & Old High German flah (smooth). Fluke as a chance happening: 19th century, origins unknown.

Example: “It was a pure fluke that saved me from being hit by the fluke of a whale when I fell overboard – fancy being winched up with my jeans caught in the fluke of the anchor! I knew we shouldn’t have gone fluke fishing that day…”

 (noun)  the occurrence and development of events by chance in a  happy or beneficial way, or the happy knack of finding something lost,  whilst looking for something else.

 History:   Serendip is a former name for Sri Lanka: Originally used by Sir  Horace Walpole (1717-97), British politician and writer, from ‘The  Princes of Serendip’ the English translation of a Persian fairy-tale, in  which the heroes possessed this gift.

 Example: “It was pure serendipity that unearthed my overdue library  book, whilst I was searching for some relatively clean socks.”

quokka

 (noun)  a small type of wallaby, latin name Setonix brachyurus, of  Western Australia, mainly living on offshore islands.

 History: from a native Australian language

shoogle

1. (verb)       to shake, sway or rock from side to side
2. (noun)      a shake, push or nudge 

 History:  from lowland Scots shog  or  shug; originally from High  German schaukeln, meaning to shake

 Example: “Give me a quick shoogle if I fall asleep in maths again!”

 NB: The old tram cars were known as "shooglies." And if someone's  "jacket is on a shoogly peg" he or she is in danger of getting the sack!

flibbertigibbet

 (noun)  an irresponsible, flighty, silly or gossipy  person (usually,  though not exclusively female) 

 History:15thC Old English, from flipergebet, meaning uncertain

 Example: “The new art teacher is a bit of a flibbertigibbet: she floats  about with her head in the clouds and a paintbrush tucked behind her  ear”

besom

 1. (noun)   obstreperous girl or woman; female upstart. 
 2. (noun)   woman of low moral  standing; a hussy ("Thon yin's  a         right mucky besom")
 3. (noun)    broomstick or any broom made from loose                                     twigs.
 4. (noun)    a comet or its tail

bumfle

1. (noun) a wrinkle, crease or fold in something (usually              clothing)
2. (verb)  to put wrinkles or creases in something
3. (verb)  to puff out or to bulge

 History: C18th Scottish, from the English bump
 Example: “After falling asleep again in my French class my shirt got all bumfled up.”                  

 To view previous Words of the Week click here.

badger

1. (noun) a stocky omnivorous mammal, with strong claws, a thick coat, and a black and white striped head
2. (verb) to pester or harass

 History: C16th, possibly originally from badge, linked to the white mark  on the forehead
 
 Example: “I wish Mr Taylor would stop badgering me for my Maths  homework. He knows I’ve fed it to the hamster.” 

plouter or plowter

1. (verb)       to work, play, or splash about in water or mud
2. (verb)       to potter about aimlessly
3. (noun)      the act of ploutering

 History:C19th Scots, derivation unknown

 Example: “Beattie! Stop yer plouterin’ aboot in the puddles – this is  supposed to be a cross-country race!”

bumptious

 (adjective) Offensively self-assertive or conceited, often over-loud and  cocksure

 History: C19th, probably from bump and fractious

 Example: “The car-park attendant’s bumptious behaviour was typical of  the ‘small man, big ego’ syndrome”

heuchter-teuchter

(pronounced hooch-ter-chooCH-ter)

 (adjective) a (usually derogatory) description of Scottish folk and  country dance music

 History:   C20th, uncertain. Possibly onomatopoeic, or derived from teuchter,  a mildly derogatory name for a Highlander

 Example: “Every time I turn on the radio it’s that heuchter-teuchter  rubbish”         

discombobulate

 (verb) (Mainly US and Canadian) To throw into confusion, or wreck  plans

 History: C20th, uncertain, perhaps derived from discompose or  discomfit

 Example: “Mr Reid discombobulated the whole class by asking them to  sit facing the back of the room”

blether

 1 - (verb chiefly Scots) To speak foolishly

 2 - (noun) Foolish talk, nonsense

 3 - (noun) Harmless talk, gossip

 4 - (noun) A person who blethers
 
 History: C15th, from old Norse blathra, from blathr,  meaning foolish 

 Example: “Mrs Dunsmuir liked nothing better than a good blether  round  the tea-urn in the staff-room.”

pettifogger

 1 - (noun) a lawyer of inferior status who conducts unimportant cases,  especially one who is unscrupulous or resorts to trickery
 2 - (noun) any person who quibbles or fusses over details
 
 History: C16th, from petty, meaning trivial (from the French petit), and  Fugger, a C15th-C16th German family of financiers

 Example: “Mr King was accused of being a pettifogger when he insisted  that all the books in his library were labelled in exactly the same way”

brouhaha

 1 - (noun) excited public interest, the clamour attending some  sensational event, or a hullabaloo
 2  -(noun) an episode involving excitement, turmoil, confusion, etc,  especially over a minor or trivial case
 
 History:  C16th, French, from exclamations made by characters  representing the devil in French drama

 Example: “There was a bit of a brouhaha over Mushy’s speech at Burns  Night: especially when he accused Fraser of not wearing the kilt in the  traditional style!”                                 

skinnymalink 

 (noun) (scots)  a very thin person, all skin-and-bones, or an  emaciated creature
 
 History: C18th, from skinny, meaning very thin, and hlekkr, c14th  Scandanavian, meaning connected or tied                 

truculent

1. (adjective)   defiantly aggressive, sullen, or obstreperous
2. (adjective)   (archaic) savage, fierce, or harsh

 History: from C16th, from Latin truculentus, from trux, meaning fierce     

onomatopoeia

 (noun) the formation of words whose sound is imitative of the sound  of the noise or action designated, such as hiss, buzz, bang, splat, etc.

 History:(1-6): from C16th , originally from Greek onoma, meaning  name, and poiein, to make             

punch

1. (verb)       to strike blows (at), especially with a closed fist
2. (verb)       (American) to herd or drive cattle
3. (noun)      a blow with the fist
4. (noun)      telling force, point, or vigour
5. (noun)      a tool or machine for piercing holes
6. (noun)      any or various tools used to knock a rivet, etc, out of a hole
7. (noun)      any mixed drink, usually hot, alcoholic, and spiced
8. (noun)      the main character in a traditional children’s puppet show 

History:(1-6): from c17th middle English pounce or punson, meaning pointed tool (7): from c17th Hindi pānch, meaning five (the drink originally contained five ingredients (8): The figure of Punch derives from the Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella, which was Anglicized to Punchinello.        

triskaidekaphobia

 (noun)  an abnormal fear of the number thirteen

 History: 20th century, from Greek triskaideka, meaning thirteen, and  Greek phobos, fear                                                                           

extrapolate

1. (verb)  in Maths, to estimate (a value or measurement) beyond the values already known, by the extension of a curve       
2. (verb) to infer something not known by using, but not strictly deducing from, known facts          

History:19th century, from extra, Latin meaning more, and polate, from Latin polire, to polish

NB: Compare with interpolate, which has several meanings, including “to estimate (a value or measurement) between values already known”

zany

1. (adjective)           comical in an endearing way: imaginatively funny or comical, especially in behaviour      
2. (noun)          a clown or buffoon, especially one in old comedies who imitated other performers with ludicrous effect                                                                          
3. (noun)          a ludicrous or foolish person        

scaremonger

 (noun)  a person who delights in spreading rumour or disaster

 History: (scare) - 12th century, from old Norse skirra, related to           Norwegian skjerra & Swedish dialect skjarra, meaning to           frighten
          (monger) – from old English mangere, ultimately from Latin           mango, meaning to trade or deal

exponentially

[adv] - in an exponential manner  (informal - very rapidly)                  

exponential

1. [adj] Of or relating to an exponent                                            
2. Mathematics a. Containing, involving, or expressed as an exponent.
b. Expressed in terms of a designated power of e, the base of natural logarithms