September 23, 2005

Pinky D's Word of the Day


shambles \SHAM-bulz\ noun

1 : a place of mass slaughter or bloodshed *2 : a scene or state of great destruction : wreckage 3 : a scene or state of great disorder or confusion : mess

Example sentence: The tornado ripped through the parking lot leaving Pinky Diablo's trailer in shambles — strewn with panties, frames and peanut pattie pieces.

Did you know? How does a word meaning "footstool" turn into a word meaning "mess"? Start with the Latin "scamillum," meaning "little bench." Modify the spelling and you get the Old English "sceamol," meaning "a footstool" or "a table used for counting money or exhibiting goods." Alter again to the Middle English "shamele," and the meaning can easily become more specific: "a table for the exhibition of meat for sale." Pluralize and you have the base of the 15th-century term "shambles," meaning "meat market." A century takes "shambles" from "meat market" to "slaughterhouse," then to figurative use referring to a place of terrible slaughter or bloodshed (say, a battlefield). The scene of a slaughter can get messy, so it's logical for the word to pick up the modern sense "mess" or "state of great confusion." Transition accomplished.