Kerfluffle

Meaning

What does Kerfluffle mean?

Kerfluffle is a bamboozling term of the English dictionary, used to describe a large commotion; total chaos.

Kerfluffle could be used to describe the riot ridden atmosphere in the United States, as of the writing of this here article.

Perhaps a more fitting illustration for the word would be a Scottish pub brawl, with beer bottles breaking on skulls and tables being destroyed on the limbs of each other – all accompanied with the ambient sounds of cracking and thumping.

An alternate spelling to the word is kerfuffle, as well as the more archaic kafuffle.

Origin

What's the origin of Kerfluffle?

This interesting looking word comes from the Scottish curfuffle, which is used to describe a state of being distraught and ruffled.

It had been part of the Caledonian dialects since at least the late 16th century.

The word first appeared in the English language in Canada, during the 1930’s, and shortly after that, it started to turn up worldwide.

Spread & Usage

How did Kerfluffle spread?

Kerfluffle is still a relatively unknown term, as its peculiar form is making it hard to interpret for a person, who encounters it for the first time.

It still is prevailing in appearing in various contexts, including J. K. Rowling’s bestselling saga, Harry Potter.

Several Urban Dictionary users also attempted at defining kerfluffle, since 2006, with over a dozen definitions listed, as of 2020.

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External resources

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