Friday, August 18, 2006

Words worth espousing - discombobulate

From the Oxford Dictionary of English:

Discombobulate. verb [with obj.] humorous,: chiefly N. Amer. disconcert or confuse (someone): [as adj.] (discombobulated) "he is looking a little pained and discombobulated". -ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: probably based on discompose or discomfit.

I was quite discombobulated on hearing the word "discombobulate" for the first time (specifically, by Stephen J Gould in the documentary series Evolution). And I frequently enjoy discombobulating others by using the word discombobulate.