Fun words!
Whilst reading 'Sight and Sound' yesterday (magazine from the British Film Institute) I came across the word 'discombobulated' in an article, cue much discussion on whether or not this was an actual word. We decided it might be one of those new ones and it's now entered into random crew room conversation. We decided it means 'out of sorts' so 'combobulated' must mean normal.
After a quick google search this evening, I was amused to discover, no this is not a new word, there was even a George Bernard Shaw quote as the example! ("the hecklers pelted the discombobulated speaker with anything that came to hand"). This led me to have a look in my dictionary (c. 1970) and it thinks it might come from the alteration of discompose. Further hunting suggests that it comes from 19th century... *looks at the plot hedgehogs*
Personally I think it sounds like a futuristic machine part: "And the discombobulator alternates the current and voilà! You have toasted bread with a light cream cheese filling."
Don't you love words? *hugs the dictionary*
Today I was followspotting alongside the dep (and talking her through), because she was standing on my box I ended up standing on one of those cable reels... that was fun.
After a quick google search this evening, I was amused to discover, no this is not a new word, there was even a George Bernard Shaw quote as the example! ("the hecklers pelted the discombobulated speaker with anything that came to hand"). This led me to have a look in my dictionary (c. 1970) and it thinks it might come from the alteration of discompose. Further hunting suggests that it comes from 19th century... *looks at the plot hedgehogs*
Personally I think it sounds like a futuristic machine part: "And the discombobulator alternates the current and voilà! You have toasted bread with a light cream cheese filling."
Don't you love words? *hugs the dictionary*
Today I was followspotting alongside the dep (and talking her through), because she was standing on my box I ended up standing on one of those cable reels... that was fun.