• flummox •
Pronunciation: flê-mêks • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: To confuse, befuddle, addle to the point of frustration.
Notes: The adjective from today's word, flummocky "confused, befuddled", like the etymology (see History below) suggest that we are spelling it all wrong. These clues suggest that it should be spelled flummocks; however, please don't spell it that way until we all agree on it.
In Play: Life today is getting so complicated, people find themselves flummoxed more and more frequently: "When Steve Adore asked Alga Witham to marry him, he was flummoxed by her response that she would if he would sign a prenuptial agreement giving her all his money in case of divorce." As work becomes more complicated, opportunities for today's Good Word multiply: "The responsibilities of his new job were so far above Newton's head that he was flummoxed at the outset and lasted only a month in the new position."
Word History: Flummox comes to us from the dialectal recesses of Merry Old and reached London around the 1830s. Dickens wrote in the Pickwick Papers (1837) "He'll be what the Italians call reg'larly flummoxed." Well, what the Dickens was Dickens thinking? He must have been flummoxed by the origin of the word—it certainly didn't come from Italian. According to the OED, it is probably of dialectal origin, coming from flummocks "to maul, mangle," flummock "slovenly person," or flummock "to make untidy, to confuse, bewilder". How it got into the dialects of UK English, however, still has us all flummoxed. (We are so happy that Susan Lister was not flummoxed by what to do with this word and sent it directly to us to share with you today.)
Flummox
- Slava
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Flummox
I'm at a loss as to how the word of the day sometimes doesn't make it to the Agora. Here is today's:
Last edited by Slava on Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Flummox
Did it occur to anyone that Dr. Goodword is subject to the same diseases as the rest of us? Some of them prevent me from even sitting up.
• The Good Dr. Goodword
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Re: Flummox
I guess my feeble attempt at humor was a bit too feeble. My apologies for the unintended barb.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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Re: Flummox
Aye, that's the idea. I was flummoxed but chose not to use the word. It backfired.Slava was flummoxed by the non-appearance of the WOD.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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