February 17, 1998

discombobulate

I know that the word "discombobulate" means to fluster or disconcert. But what is the word's origin and history?

The fanciful alteration of words, especially by adding pseudo-Latin elements, has long been a feature of American English. One classic is absquatulate 'to run away; abscond', from the early nineteenth century but still in occasional use. The word obfuscate has been elaborated into obfusticated--Davy Crockett was quoted in 1834 as saying that he'd "be tee-to-natiously obfusticated if he would take office on any condition."

Many words similar to discombobulate, which does mean 'to fluster or disconcert; confuse; upset', have likewise been around since the early nineteenth century. The earliest such form is discombobracated (also 1834), but others include discomboberate, discombobelate, discombooberate, discombobble, discomboobleate, and more. Your form discombobulate, perhaps the most common of these, is first found in a dialect study from 1916, when it was identified as a New England term.

The exact origin of such fanciful formations is impossible to pin down. It is probable that discombobulate is a fanciful alteration of a specific word such as discompose or discomfort, but the various pseudo-Latin elements could simply be stuck together in an amusing-sounding way, without much regard for meaning; the -com- element is common in such words.