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Friday 28 January 2022

Word To Use Today: coddiwomple.

 Every authority I've found marks coddiwomple as slang.

Still, it's a magnificent word, and deserves, I think, to be embraced.

To coddiwomple is to travel in a determined way towards some vague object. This implies, I suppose, that the fun is to mostly be had in the travelling. A coddiwomple might involve a brisk walk without any particular end in view.

Or perhaps coddiwompling is more about exploring: I had a coddiwomple over the hill and found a view of the sea. 

Perhaps you coddiwomple your way through your whole life. Having no defined destination does mean you'll never fail, after all. 

(Or succeed, either. But hey...)

Word To Use Today: coddiwomple. I don't know of any derivation of this word. It's obviously playful, and it does seem to be British. Coddi may come from cod, a British word a meaning sham, as in cod Latin, and which earlier meant a fool. Womple suggests both yomp, which is military slang meaning to trek, heavily laden, over difficult territory, and womble, a creature native to Wimbledon Common but which, famously, womble free.



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