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I'm Confused About Why People Prefer to Say Discombobulated?

Image of a man and a woman in a café with a speech balloon saying 'Did you just say discombobulated?' Image by TET and Leonardo.AI.

Discombobulated. Is a word that I think someone rediscovered about three or four years ago (maybe more because the pandemic years have thrown out my sense of time) and now I hear it a lot.

It's not a new word by any means, but when I started hearing multiple celebrities using it in everyday sentences, I actively had to look up what it meant. Define it with as many synonyms as you like but essentially it's just another word meaning 'confused'.


Seinfeld Quote: Jerry Seinfeld: What did you do to my car? George Costanza: I couldn't help it! Elaine moved the mirror, I got discombobulated. Elaine Benes: Oh, like you've ever been bobulated.
Seinfeld Quotes: Quotes.net

The words are pretty much interchangeable. He was discombobulated by too many choices. He was confused by too many choices. 

My confusion is the length of the word. It's unnecessarily long with too many syllables. There are many other words that mean confused, and therefore also mean discombobulated. Most of them are shorter and easier to say. So why not just say 'confused'?

Perhaps discombobulated sounds more intelligent, maybe? 


Hawaii Five-0 Quote: [In a flashback to 2001, Danny is talking to Rachel on the phone] Danny: Yes, yes, I am scared, all right? I am also anxious and nervous. I am discombobulated-- yes, I use that word. But, most of all, I am happy. Okay? Let me break it down-- I am 60% happy, I am 30% completely terrified, and I am 10% discombobulated. Yes, it is a real word. See? This is why you suck at Scrabble.
Hawaii Five-0 Quotes: Quotes.net

I've noticed it gets used a lot by people who you generally don't associate with really big words (like more than four syllables at a stretch). I can't point to any specific use cases because, by the time I've rolled my eyes at hearing the word again, recording the moment for an article such as this never crossed my mind.

But then again, I've heard journalists, and news anchors use it commonly as well. In the case of news anchors I'd say it gets used more by the condescending, opinion spouting kind, than actual news anchors who read actual, real news.

Or maybe it just got revived because Eminem released the track Discombobulated three years ago from his album, Music to be Murdered By. I could see people latching onto that.

Either way, to me at least, it just makes you sound like you're trying too hard to sound like you know words and stuff. Just use confused. It's a perfectly fine word that doesn't feel the need to put anyone in a state of discombobulation about what it actually means.

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Comments

  1. Mum60September 04, 2024 5:42 PM

    I think I've heard of the word discombobulate before but wouldn't have known what it meant without looking it up.

    One person who used to use long words was Clive James, who I liked but I tried to read a book of his once when I was doing a Creative Writers' course back in the 80s I think and got bored by about the first couple of pages. I can't remember the name of the book now. I did ask the teacher at the time why he used such big words, but can't remember with time what her explanation was.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TET (David Arandle)September 05, 2024 4:13 PM

      I would have no problem with Clive James using 'discombobulated' given his entire career was built around his writing and books... and he clearly enjoyed language. It's just weird when celebrities who aren't known for any kind of wordsmithing or speaking words with more than two or three syllables use it out of nowhere.

      Now that you've heard it, and know what it means, you'll likely hear it used a lot more now.

      Delete
    2. Mum60September 05, 2024 5:51 PM

      When I do, I hope I won't become discombobulated! LOL! If I use it, I'm sure the people I mix with will give me a funny look, including family! :-)

      Delete

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