What an incredibly expressive word. Kerfuffle! Who could have possibly thought of such a word? What are its origins? What is the language that it comes from? And who was the first person to use it? Kerfuffle means making a commotion or fuss. The word actually sounds a lot like it means. Kerfuffle is a universally spoken word and it is known all over the world.
So, come on let’s create a real kerfuffle about this word. It is a wonderful word to express because it is so descriptive in its sounding. Not another word this century has had such an affect on the world’s vocabulary.
Presidents, prime ministers, film stars, sporting personalities and most of the world’s media are now constantly using this absolutely amazing word kerfuffle.
Yet it was only in the last fifty years that the word kerfuffle started to be used outside of the United Kingdom, which possibly gives you a strong indication in terms of the roots of this word.
Indeed the majority of experts believe that the word kerfuffle is derived from either a Scottish or Irish word, both of which have almost similar meanings. Currently the Scottish origins are winning favour.
But whatever the origins that brought this word into being, it is now a unique word that is fixed in the world’s mind. Kerfuffle has been in the top one hundred most searched words on the internet for many years now.
There is much speculation about who was the first person to use the word, kerfuffle. Many different countries have their own version of the story, depending on which language is being used.
It is worth remembering that the word kerfuffle originated and was first most widely used in the United Kingdom, which as referred to earlier will give the strongest indication of when, where and who first expressed it.
The when was in the sixteenth century, the where was in the court of Queen Elizabeth and the who, that first spoke the word in public, was Sir Walter Raleigh, when he used it to describe the commotion and fuss that was being made by the Queen’s Privy Council.
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Many people believe that Sir Walter Raleigh must have heard the word being spoken by a Scottish sailor on one of his many sea-going voyages or that he picked it up when he was fighting the Irish rebels.
But like many things, such as tobacco and potatoes, we owe Sir Walter Raleigh a very grateful thank you for bringing us yet another well used household word with kerfuffle.
So, next time you use the word kerfuffle, you may not be in such grand settings as Sir Walter Raleigh, but there is no reason why you can’t just express it in maybe the same way, with the same tone as he did.
Ok, that’s enough commotion, fuss and Kerfuffle for one day!
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