- Today's Word
Flubberwhump
[FLUH-ber-whump]
Definition
- (noun) A moment of clumsy exuberance that results in a minor mishap or embarrassing situation. It’s when your excitement or enthusiasm causes you to fumble, stumble, or make a silly mistake, often in a comical way.
Example
In his eagerness to greet his date, Tom had a major flubberwhump, tripping over his own feet and knocking over a potted plant in the process.
Fun Fact
The word “flubberwhump” is an example of what linguists call “sound symbolism” or “phonesthemes,” where certain sound combinations suggest meaning. The “fl-” beginning is often associated with movement or sudden action (like in “flick” or “flutter”), “ubber” gives a sense of bounciness or instability (like “rubber” or “blubber”), and “whump” suggests a heavy impact (like “thump” or “bump”). This combination of sounds creates a word that almost onomatopoeically represents the act it describes – you can almost hear the clumsy movement and resulting impact in the word itself. This linguistic phenomenon is common in many languages and plays a significant role in the creation of expressive and evocative slang terms.
(adjective) Of no value or importance; worthless or futile.
The committee’s recommendations proved nugatory since no one had the authority to implement them.
Early 17th century: from Latin “nugatorius,” from “nugari” meaning “to trifle,” derived from “nugae” meaning “jests” or “trifles.”