higgledy-piggledy is a word!
written at 7:52 p.m. on 08.10.02
wow, i found a really cool word. okay, so i get a word, a joke, and a devotion daily to my email so i think i always get mail...lol, no but i just signed up for those things cuz they were cool. well the last word i put in here was really lame, but this word is an example of exactly why i like this stuff...Your daily vocabulary lesson: higgledy-piggledy . hih-gul-dee-PIG-gul-dee . (adverb) : in a confused, disordered, or random manner Example sentence: Furniture, boxes, and clothes were piled higgledy-piggledy throughout the house, offering chaotic testimony that the Harrisons were far from settled in their new home. Did you know? We really have no idea where "higgledy-piggledy" came from, but we do know it's a perfect example of English speakers' fondness for reduplication; that is, for forming new words by repetition of a base word with just a slight change of sound. In this case, the "base" word might actually be the second term, which is loosely reminiscent of "pig" and calls to mind the possible association of pigs with disorderliness. (Nathaniel Hawthorne, at least, noted a connection: "pigs, on a march, do not subject themselves to any leader among themselves, but pass on, higgledy-piggledy, without regard to age or sex.") We also know that the word has been around since before 1600; it appeared as a translation of an Italian word in a 1598 Italian-English dictionary. According to that dictionary, the Italian term could also be translated as "pell-mell" or "helter-skelter"-two other examples of reduplication. can you believe that's an actual word? now i agree, the little history lesson is kinda excessive and unecessary, but still, i was excited to find another cool word, almost as cool as galumph and all those good words that u find in the english language... right, anywho..i got to drive again today. i say again b/c i've been driving a lot lately trying to get in my hours, cuz now i'm actually wanting to get my liscence. anywho, i drove almost 2 hours which was cool, and i got to stop by gurnee mills on the way home. i don't like that mall very much, but they have a sanrio (hello kitty) store there that i LUV and so, that was cool. well, la di da, i luv powerpuff girls. i'm bummed i didn't get to see the movie in theaters. :( oh well. i still need to go see signs and XXX too before i forget. hmm. what to babble about next....nothing. the end. so tired. have worship team to play for tomorrow and i didn't practice enough. so long my friends. :) - tiggersnail
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