Amanda's Word Journal

I am choosing to write about my two favorite words, 'discombobulated' and 'caddywhompus.'

Discombobulate (v) is to be upset, disturbed or disconcerted.
Forms of the word - Discombobulerate (another verb form), Discombobulation (n), Discombobulated (adj)
Etymology - The word itself is believed to have derived in the 1830s from a jocular alteration of either discomfort or discompose.

I learned this word when I was twelve years old and was playing a game of scrabble with my mother. I had put the word 'late' on the board and my mother in a jocular manner put down 'combobu' with all the letters she had.  With a great deal of skepticism I looked the word combobulate up in the dictionary and found nothing. However, my mother insisted that since discombobulate was a word that combobulate should be as well. I didn't even know what discombobulate meant at that time. I  look it up, just so I knew for certain she wasn't just making up words, and I found it. After that game, it became a commonly used word when we are describing a situation when we are very flustered or confused.

Caddywhompus (adj) to be uneven, off kilter
Context: Your hat is sitting a little caddywhompus on your head.
Etymology - ?

This is another word I learned when I was young and is often used by my mother and me. What I find fascinating about this word is it's not in the dictionary, but many people have heard it, know what it means, and use it. Another thing that I find interesting is that I have had several instances where people have told me discombobulate was not a word but agreed that caddywhompus was a word and they knew what it meant.