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fantods (FAN-todz) - n.pl., (usually with "the") a state of anxiety or irritibility.
Or sometimes just another name for the fidgets. First used by American writer C.F. Briggs in 1839: "You have got strong symptoms of the fantods; your skin is so tight you can't shut your eyes without opening your mouth." Origin is unclear, but possibly alteration of English dialectal fantigue, a state of excitement. I first met the word in the works of Edward Gorey, who here illustrates having a fantod stuffed and placed under glass bell:
From "The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel"
---L.
Or sometimes just another name for the fidgets. First used by American writer C.F. Briggs in 1839: "You have got strong symptoms of the fantods; your skin is so tight you can't shut your eyes without opening your mouth." Origin is unclear, but possibly alteration of English dialectal fantigue, a state of excitement. I first met the word in the works of Edward Gorey, who here illustrates having a fantod stuffed and placed under glass bell:
From "The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel"
---L.
