- Today's Word
Zozzled
[ZOZ-uhld]
Definition
- (adjective) An informal term meaning to be drunk or intoxicated. It can also describe someone who is in a dazed or confused state, as if under the influence of alcohol.
Example
After a long night of partying, the college students stumbled back to their dorms, completely zozzled and ready to sleep off the evening’s excesses.
Fun Fact
The exact origin of “zozzled” is unknown, but it is believed to have emerged in American slang during the early 20th century. The term might be related to the older slang word “sozzled,” which also means to be drunk or intoxicated. One theory suggests that “zozzled” could be a playful variation of “sozzled,” with the initial “z” sound adding a humorous or whimsical touch to the term. Another possibility is that “zozzled” might be a blend of “sozzled” and the word “zonked,” which means to be exhausted or in a dazed state.
(noun) a system of conveying information through visual signals, often using flags, lights, or mechanical arms, especially over long distances.
Before modern radio communication, ships relied on semaphore to send urgent messages across open water.
Semaphore comes from the early 19th-century French word sémaphore, which itself is rooted in the Greek words sēma (meaning “sign”) and phoros (meaning “bearing” or “carrying”), literally translating to “sign-bearer.” The term was first used to describe mechanical signaling towers across France that transmitted messages visually from station to station long before electrical communication existed.