Wordie: Absquatulate: Comments

Comment by chained_bear, 2 days ago

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:30:25 +0000

"In the 19th century, the vibrant energy of American English appeared in the use of Latin affixes to create jocular pseudo-Latin 'learned' words. There is a precedent for this in the language of Shakespeare, whose plays contain scores of made-up Latinate words. Midwestern and Western U.S. absquatulate has a prefix ab-, "away from," and a suffix, -ate, "to act upon in a specified manner," affixed to a nonexistent base form -squatul-, probably suggested by squat. Hence the whimsical absquatulate literally means "to squat away from." A more familiar meaning would be "to depart in a hurry."

"A similar coinage is Northern busticate, which joins bust with -icate by analogy with verbs like medicate, and means "to break into pieces." Southern argufy joins argue to a redundant -fy, a suffix meaning "to make; cause to become." Today, these creations have an old-fashioned and rustic flavor curiously at odds with their elegance. They are kept alive in regions of the United States where {linguistic?} change is slow."
—More Word Histories and Mysteries: From Aardvark to Zombie, from the editors of American Heritage Dictionaries, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006

Comment by OptimusPrime, 6 days ago

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:59:39 +0000

Mencken "The American Language" says this word dates back to 1830 amongst settlers in the West. Means "to depart stealthily."

Comment by Prolagus, 2 months ago

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:14:30 +0000

Was it Chad? Don't EVER trust him.

(Asativum: I mean Chad, of course.)

Comment by yarb, 2 months ago

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:06:47 +0000

I think someone told me this word was made up by Mark Twain.

Comment by Prolagus, 2 months ago

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:02:16 +0000

The term "absquatulate" has become familiar to us during the war. "It comes from a or ab, privative, and squat, western for settle. When a squatter removes, he absquatulates." In peculiar circumstances whole companies have absquatulated.

(Forty years of American life, by Thomas Low Nichols)

Comment by chained_bear, 5 months ago

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:30:50 +0000

Hee... now it's there, and I'm happy. :) *sighs*

Comment by pterodactyl, 5 months ago

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:30:52 +0000

No need to demand, p_p -- I'd be delighted to add to that excellent list. :-)

Comment by chained_bear, 5 months ago

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:37:41 +0000

Pterodactyl, I demand that you go list "oh my stars and garters" on my list of Delightful Ejaculations right now. Pretty please!

Comment by pterodactyl, 5 months ago

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:21:16 +0000

Oh my stars and garters... how have I lived for so long without knowing this wonderful, wonderful word?!!!

Comment by ofravens, 5 months ago

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:33:08 +0000

I love this word. Actual, complete telephone conversation between myself and my nineteen-year-old (younger) sister, who was out for dinner, on Saturday night:

Sister: Hi, um, you know that...what's that word from the other day that means "running away and taking another person with you"?
A: ...Honey. You are NOT calling the house at 12:30 just to ask me the definition of a word.
Sister: Yeah, I totally am. What's the word?
A: {pause} It's 'absquatulate,' sweetheart.
Sister: {cracks up}
A: {cracks up}
Sister: Okay okay okay. Bye!

Comment by seanahan, 9 months ago

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:59:06 +0000

This is a great word, it's so fun to say.

Comment by rolig, 9 months ago

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:54:17 +0000

Now here's a tongue-twister:
Sasquatch absquatulated squeamishly.

Comment by herotuesday, 11 months ago

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 15:28:23 +0000

This is the funniest word I've heard in a long time... it almost matches booger in it's guffaw-factor.