Skimble-skamble

//ˈskɪmb(ə)lˌskæmb(ə)l// adj, noun

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Confused, chaotic, disorderly, senseless. not-comparable

    "[S]ometime he angers me / With telling me of the Mouldwarp and the Ant, / Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies, / And of a Dragon and a finles fiſh, / A clipwingd Griffin and a molten rauen, / A couching Leon and a ramping Cat, / And ſuch a deale of skimble ſcamble ſtuffe / As puts me from my faith."

Noun
  1. 1
    Gibberish, mumbo-jumbo, nonsense. uncountable

    "Did you read his skimble-skamble about * * being at the head of his own profession, in the eyes of those who followed it?"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Reduplication of scamble (“to move about pushing and jostling, struggle for place or possession, scramble; to mangle”). The term was popularized by William Shakespeare’s use of it in the play Henry IV, Part 1 (c. 1597): see the quotation.

Etymology 2

Reduplication of scamble (“to move about pushing and jostling, struggle for place or possession, scramble; to mangle”). The term was popularized by William Shakespeare’s use of it in the play Henry IV, Part 1 (c. 1597): see the quotation.

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