Word of the DAY:

flummox FLUM-uks
verb:
confuse

(Ruth was flummoxed by the angry outburst and wild accusations that greeted her mild complaint.)

Why do I write about “flummox” this evening? WELL, apparently, the 12 Days of Christmas occur AFTER Christmas, and not before.  I was informed by a devout Catholic, that the “said” 12 days occur between the day Christ was born and the Epiphany.  Who knew?  Clearly, I was flummoxed by all of this pomp. And…. come to think of it….. just what the heck is an Epiphany?  Do I have to look that one up too?  Nah.  I’ll make something up.

…..  ……..  ……..ahhhhh….. ahhhhhh….. ahhhhhhhh….. epiphany!

epiphany |iˈpifənē|
noun:
the sound most people make when sneezing, or blowing out birthday candles

(If you just tuned in…. I did my own version of the 12 Days of Christmas…. before the 25th…. )

Did YOU Know???? No one is completely sure where the word “flummox” comes from, but we do know that its first known use is found in Charles Dickens’ 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers and that it had become quite common in both British and American English by the end of the 19th century. One theory expressed by some etymologists is that it was influenced by “flummock,” a word of English dialectical origin used to refer to a clumsy person. This “flummock” may also be the source of the word “lummox,” which also means “a clumsy person.”