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As an insult, it is in its meaning comparable to the English word "dickhead" when applied to a person, but due to the double meaning of the Dutch word (acorn or glans), it is considered much milder. It usually refers to a clumsy person who makes silly mistakes. emmeren: Emmeren (literally: to "bucket" around) is a verb, meaning "to nag". Most ...
The word oaf, a clumsy or stupid person, is derived from the historic English word for a changeling, auf. This, in turn, is believed to have originated from the Middle English alven and elven, and ultimately from the Old Norse word for an elf, alfr. [48] [49]
Some slang becomes part of the American lexicon, while other words slip away over time. These are some of our favorites that we really think should make a comeback. ... Clumsy person. In the late ...
2. Stupid, clumsy person [45] boiled as an owl Alternate names for intoxicated; see § drunk [46] [b] boiler Automobile [20] boob Dumb guy [44] boob-tickler Girl who has to entertain her father's customers from out of town [8] bookkeeping The art of making a date [8] booklegger. Main article: Rum-running. Dealer in suppressed novels [8] bootleg ...
The riddle probably exploited, for misdirection, the fact that "humpty dumpty" was also eighteenth-century reduplicative slang for a short and clumsy person. [12] The riddle may depend upon the assumption that a clumsy person falling off a wall might not be irreparably damaged, whereas an egg would be.
Before the 1980s, "airhead" was general American slang for a ditzy, clumsy or stupid person. [10] With the rise of the valley girl [11] and preppy subculture however, the term was applied to cheerleaders [12] and nouveau riche or middle class hangers-on who imitated the uptalk speech [13] and clothing of the upper class popular girls.
It has also entered standard English and is affixed to many different words to denote enthusiasm or obsession with that subject. Cambridge Dictionary has defined mania as “a very strong interest in something that fills a person's mind or uses up all their time” Britannica Dictionary defined mania as a mental illness in which a person ...
Otherwise, the word κοάλεμος was used in the sense of "stupid person" or also "blockhead". [3] An ancient false etymology derives κοάλεμος from κοέω (koeō) "perceive" and ἡλεός (ēleos) "distraught, crazed". [4] This etymology is not established, however. [5]