What was all the fuss about
A woman sat down next to me recently and placed in my hand a note.
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I can’t remember ever getting a note from a member of the opposite sex since I was at primary school, and probably not even then.
I opened the note full of anticipation
And the note had one word on it – kerfuffle.
Then she left.
I presume she was only interested in me because of the word kerfuffle.
I was surprised to discover that this informal word doesn’t have a long history. In fact, if my big dictionary is to believed, it has a very short history,
People used to use it used during speeches but it was rarely written down.
Some people believe it has a Scottish influence, or even Irish.
In the early days, it was spelt curfuffle. But then, around 1946, the word was standardised as kerfuffle as dictionaries started to be used more.
But before that, Frank Sargeson wrote in That Summer and Other Stories that a domestic row ended as “a good old kafuffle”. Note the different spelling.
Then in 1959 J Fleming wrote kerfuffle in the context of some stolen jewels.
My understanding of the word is that it means a minor fuss, or even a commotion, often caused by some conflicting views. The use of the “ker” in some ways added emphasis.
In 2006 President Bush caused a minor kerfuffle when he uttered the word in Ohio, according to Michael Quinion, and his handlers had to explain the meaning of the word “from the man who gave us misunderestimated”.
Many years ago Scottish English used the word fuffle, meaning, so far as I can tell, to dishevel.
It could have also meant a turn, which was an old Irish meaning.
Then they added the cur, meaning wrong.
Curfuffle became the word until it changed to kerfuffle, I don’t know why, butI assume the prefix ker added emphasis and people were starting to consult dictionaries more.
It has had many spellings, such as kafuffle, kerfluff and kerfuffle, but the meaning has always been a brouhaha, a fracas, a hubbub or a mess.
In 1960 EW Hildrick writing in Jim Starling and Colonel wrote “Butcher said he didn’t know what all the kerfuffle was about”.
I don’t know the context, but I can just imagine Mrs Smith going into the butcher shop to complain about the meat she had bought.
The sausages were probably too long.
And so kerfuffle has adopted this meaning down to the present day.
But I must tell you about a sentence from the Free Dictionary: “Among the oldest corpses from which DNA has been extracted is a Neanderthal man. Imagine the kerfuffle if somebody managed to clone him.”
I imagine kerfuffle in the previous sentence might need to be changed to something like tumult, or even disaster.
Who would want to clone a Neanderthal man anyway?
In 1973 K Anus said in Riverside Villas Murder: “A lot of our readers are going to think all this kerfuffle over an old skeleton being snatched is a bit of a joke.”
Now when I meet this woman who handed me the note with kerfuffle on it, I will ask her why she decided it needed an explanation.
She could have added to the note something, anything, such as “meet me behind the bike shed at midday” or something.
Anything but kerfuffle.
Writing on the Wall
Books in print Please Print for Country Press Australia and My Word, Ringo and the historical book Massacre at Myall Creek for Sid Harta Publishers.
Learn more about the language and visit...
lauriebarber.com or email lbword@midcoast.com.au