Strange words: Ballyhooly about falderal — but not complete balderdash

My dad has always used strange words. Most of them are colloquialisms, but others are just words he thinks are fun. When our daughter was about nine, she even started a list of “Grandpa’s Silly Sayings”. I ran across a list of 100 Whimsical Words today and immediately thought of dad’s word choices. I’ve put together my own list I think he would find copacetic. And, if you have grandchildren yourself, maybe you’ll find a word or two that will impress the rug rats. Just don’t throw these words around willy-nilly.

alley-oop: an exclamation of encouragement, exhortation, etc., preceding some vigorous action or forceful effort
balderdash: idle, ill-informed talk; rubbish; a senseless jumble of words; nonsense
ballyhooly: commotion; noise
bamboozle: to deceive by trickery; impose upon; to perplex; mystify
brouhaha: an uproar; turmoil; a scuffle; disturbance
cahoots: phrase in cahoots, in partnership; in league
cattywampus: out of kilter; messed up
cockamamie: crazy; ridiculous; muddled
copacetic: extremely satisfactory; fine
do-hickey or doodad: any device or gadget, the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten
doozy: something especially remarkable, either good or bad
falderal: mere nonsense
finagle: to get (something) by guile or trickery; wangle
flibbertigibbet: a chattering or flighty person, usually a child
fuddy-duddy: a fussy, stuffy, or old-fashioned person
gallivant: to go from place to place in a rollicking, frivolous or flirtatious manner
gee whiz: an exclamation expressing surprise, admiration, etc.
hokey: sentimental; corny (NZ colloquialism is an expression of surprise; a mild oath)
hoopla: excitement; razzle-dazzle
hootenanny: an informal performance by folk singers, often with audience participation
itsy-bitsy or itty-bitty: small; insubstantial
jeez Louise: an exclamation of protest, exasperation, disappointment, etc.
la-di-da: affectedly pretentious, especially in manner, speech, or bearing
lolligag: to play around foolishly or aimlessly; waste time
lickety-split: at great speed; rapidly
malarkey: meaningless talk
nincompoop: a fool or simpleton
ragamuffin: a ragged, disreputable person; a ragged child
razzamatazz: noisy and showy activity
rigamarole: a long and complicated process
rug rat: a small child, especially one at the crawling stage
scallywag: (often used indulgently of children) a scamp; rascal
shenanigans: silly behaviour
skedaddle: to run away; disperse in flight
thingamabob or thingamajig: an indefinite name for a thing or person which a speaker cannot or does not wish to designate more precisely
upsadaisy or upsy-daisy: used to encourage or reassure a child when being lifted, climbing, or standing up
whirligig: something that whirls, revolves, or goes round
willy-nilly: in random order; in disarray
yahoo: a rough, coarse, or uncouth person

Wendy Wood
Proofreader

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