shambolic

[prettygoodword]

shambolic (sham-BAWL-ik) - adj., completely disorganized, chaotic.


A shambles -- literally, as this is British slang from around 1970 probably derived from shambles with a mock-learned suffix, possibly taken from symbolic. Shambles itself dates back to Old English, where it was a borrowing from Latin diminutive of scamnum, bench. (There was some evolution of meaning in there.)

---L.

Comments

[al-rants.livejournal.com]

Personally, I find the evolution of meaning for that word to be fascinating, in no small part because I lived in York, England for several years. Anyone who's been to a really old city in the British Isles that retains a significant portion of its medieval heritage will likely have seen a street called 'The Shambles.' The one in York is especially noteworthy, as it's been described as the best preserved medieval street in Europe. The street was originally the location of all the butchers in the city, and it gets its name from the 'shammels,' the shelves on which the meat was displayed for purchase. These streets were eventually known for their somewhat gross and chaotic practise of having excess animal bits lying about the street, and thus the symbolic meaning was born.

Not sure if you knew that already, but I thought your other readers might find it interesting.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

The bit about putting the meat on the shelves, I was missing. Thanks!

---L.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

My husband uses that term a lot ^_^

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Especially about undergraduates?

---L.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

fairly often--but almost equally often about our own selves or friends and family :-P

[flwyd.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to use shambolic and Shambhala together whenever possible.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking much the same thought.

---L.