mallemaroking

[prettygoodword]

mallemaroking - n., carousing by seamen on board icebound Greenland whalers.


Yes, this is a very specific word. Curiously, this looks like a gerund, but the verb mallemarok(e) is not attested at all. Why, given that there are hardly any whalers in Greenland waters these days and Icelandic sailors are too canny to get caught in the ice, this word survives at all is a good question -- probably because it's so specific as to catch the curiosity of onlookers. As for its origin, I shall quote Wiktionary entire: "Apparently from a confusion of two similar Dutch words. The first of these is the obsolete mallemerok a “foolish woman”, from malle, foolish, plus marok, from French marotte, an object of foolish affection; a “bauble”. The second word mallemok is a name for some persons among the crew of a whaling vessel."

---L.

Comments

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

I suspect the connection here is directly to the noisy seabird known as the mollymawk, and that "mallemerok" and "mallemok" are by no means disconnected. The colonies, birds packed shoulder-to-shoulder on their nests, reeking of guano, are deafeningly raucous; it's a wonderful word for a loud party, especially for one on an icebound ship. There was some mallemaroking on the Shokalskiy this past season.

Honestly, some of the linguists are deliberately thick, or unimaginative.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

That is possible.

---L.