Bunglesome -Friday’s Word of the Day

Friday’s word of the day at dictionary.com is identified as an Americanism dating back to 1885-90. Bunglesome is characterized as or marked by bungling, clumsy, awkward, or incompetent. What really intrigued me about this word is the idea that it is considered an “Americanism”.

In case you are wondering, an Americanism is a word or phrase (or, less commonly, a feature of grammar, spelling, or pronunciation) that (supposedly) originated in the United States and/or is used primarily by Americans. Some accounts state that the term was first coined by the Reverend John Witherspoon, founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence and president of what would become Princeton University.

Here’s are a few notable phrases and words: wigwam, pretzel, spook, depot and canyon, that borrowed from the Indians, Germans, Dutch, French and Spanish.”

Here is a list of Americanisms and their British English counterpart:

American English/British English
antenna/aerial
mad/angry
anyplace/anywhere
fall/autumn
bill/bank note
attorney/barrister, solicitor
cookie/biscuit
hood/bonnet
trunk/boot
suspenders/braces
janitor/caretaker

Read the entire list HERE.

So bunglesome is apparently an Americanism. In fact I also learned that you can add the suffix -some to a whole host of words. It makes the root word an adjective that implies more of the root word it is attaching to.

Well, I had best get to the Haiku. I’m already late, but bunglesome is too good a word to miss!

for bunglesome pols
appointed to a play a role
loyalty is key

~kat