polrumptious

[prettygoodword]

polrumptious (puhl-RUMP-shuhs) - adj., unruly, rowdy, obnoxious.


Dialect slang from south England first recorded in the 1780s. The pol- prefix is possibly from dialect poll meaning head, used as an intensifier to rumptious, energetic/rowdy. Possibly headstrong as a connotation?

---L.

Comments

[lokifan]

Possibly headstrong as a connotation?

Love that! I was like '??? head at the beginning?' but that fits. I wonder if it's to do with horses that pull on the reins, want you to 'give them their heads'.

[prettygoodword]

I'm not getting that sense from dictionaries, where examples are all directed at humans, but it's quite possible.