Do you know the meaning of hunky-dory? Flabbergasted? Kerfuffle?
No?
Let me enlighten you!
There are some incredible words in English that you will rarely come across so in this blog I will be sharing my favourite ones in the English language with you.
Hunkydory:
This means ‘well, fine’ – everything is hunkydory thank you.
So the next time someone asks how you are, you can respond with the above example.
Bamboozled:
This is a great word to talk about cheating or fooling someone – he bamboozled people into giving him money for his scam.
Flabbergasted:
Honestly this is one of my favourite words of all time! It means to be utterly astonished, shocked, surprised – I was completely flabbergasted when he proposed.
Discombobulated:
This means to be confused, disorientated, bewildered – She felt completely discombobulated after her surgery.
Shenanigans:
Another great word to mean silly behaviour or mischief and it is often used in a context involving alcohol – He told me all about his drunken shenanigans.
To faff (around) :
To do things in a disorganised, ineffectual way and to lose time, to delay doing something – as my mother always used to tell me: “Stop faffing around and get on with it!”
Kerfuffle:
I absolutely adore this word for a commotion or fuss, sometimes slightly physical, disturbance, conflict – Almost every week we hear of various political kerfuffles!
The Evolution of Kerfuffle:
Fuffle is an old Scottish verb that means “to muss” or “to throw into disarray”—in other words, to (literally) ruffle someone’s (figurative) feathers. The addition of car-, possibly from a Scottish Gaelic word meaning “wrong” or “awkward,” didn’t change its meaning much. So it is a great word with a fantastic history!
Brouhaha:
Here is a word that sounds what it means: an uproar, noisy reaction to something – there was a real brouhaha over her statement.
Nincompoop:
This means idiot but in a nice way: Stop being such a nincompoop and call him!
Malarkey:
I use this word a lot especially when talking about insincere, foolish talk or behaviour, silliness – I am fed up with politicians as they all talk a bunch of malarkey.
Skedaddle:
To hurry away or leave quickly – I’m sorry I have to skedaddle!
Tomfoolery:
Foolish or silly behaviour – the open bar may have had something to do with the tomfoolery that happened at the wedding reception.
In the Middle Ages, Thome Fole was a name assigned to those perceived to be of little intelligence. This eventually evolved into the spelling tomfool, which, when capitalized, also referred to a professional clown or a buffoon in a play or pageant. Therefore it makes sense why silliness is also referred to as tomfoolery.
Codswallop:
if you have read Harry Potter you know Hagrid says this and it means nonsense, completely untrue – The idea that Prince William cheated on Catherine is complete codswallop.
Those are my favourite words of the English language. What are yours?
If you want to check the pronunciation of these words please check out my Ask Us Anything live on the same topic.