Mock Latin Words 5

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Mock Latin series! This is my final installment, and only one is mock Latin. The other two are just “mock” in general, but they were fun, so I thought I’d include them. 😉

Asquatulate – This is another word meant to poke fun at the person who speaks it, this time Londoners making fun of Americans. The word first appeared in a play, meaning “to make off or run away,” meant to be the opposite of the Latin squat, “to settle.” The closest synonym is actual skedaddle, go figure, LOL.

Rudesby – This is a mock surname, actually, meant to be applied to people who are, well, rude. Since so many last names were created by addding -by to the end of a place name, this construction is natural but simply meant to be a clever insult. It originated in 1560!

Panjandrum – I find this one totally hilarious. Not only is it a fabricated word from the 1880s, it’s an insult (meant to be “a pompous person of power and pretension”), and also a test. Samuel Foote actually made up this word as one of many nonsense words in a long passage he gave to actor Charles Macklin to memorize when the actor said he could repeat absolutely anything verbatum after hearing it once. (I wonder if Macklin succeeded!?)

And there we have my mock–and mocking–word list. Hope it’s been fun!