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May 29, 2018

Word of the Day: Flummox

1 CQ

Word of the Day : May 29, 2018

flummox \FLUM-uks\ verb

Definition

: confuse

Did You Know?

No one is completely sure where the word flummox comes from, but we do know that early use can be found in Charles Dickens' 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers and that it had become quite common in both British and American English by the end of the 19th century. One theory expressed by some etymologists is that it was influenced by flummock, a word of English dialectical origin used to refer to a clumsy person. This flummock may also be the source of the word lummox, which also means "a clumsy person."

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                                  debating
                                  aberration
                                  jesting
                                  indiscretion








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Aired May 29, 2018

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