I bumped up against the word fantods and thought "Whaaaaaat...???" The context didn't provide any clues as to the word's meaning. That makes fantods a perfect candidate for Slang-o-rama!
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According to The Online Etymology Dictionary, fantods—a "jocular formation, possibly based on fantasy"—first appeared in 1835. The definition is offered through this passage from The Metropolitan Magazine, London, October 1835:
There is an indescribable complaint, which will never allow a moment's repose to mind or body; which nothing will satisfy—which allows of no beginning, and no ending—which wheels round the mind like the squirrel in its cage, ever moving, but still making no progress. It is called the Fantods.
Ah, this is a state of mind that is very familiar to me, and I suspect to others as well!
Elsewhere, Merriam-Webster defines fantod as "a state of irritability and tension" or "an emotional fit," adding "The exact origin of fantod remains a mystery, but it may have arisen from English dialectal fantigue—a word (once used by Charles Dickens) that refers to a state of great tension or excitement and may be a blend of fantastic and fatigue." World Wide Words pegs fantods as first appearing in 1839 in the U.S. But I think the 1835 quote that appears on The Online Etymology Dictionary points to an earlier origin from "across the pond," as does an appearance of fantods in William Johnson Neale's book Will Watch, published in 1834.
Such fun! But I must stop dashing about the internet, looking for even earlier appearances, before I have an attack of fantods...
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3 comments:
My husband's family introduced me to this term. I always thought it came from my father-in-law, and suspected he read it in a novel of the Old West.
I can see that word fitting in well in a Western! :-) (I may have to use it myself...)
Finally, a word to describe my week. Silver Rush and Ann Parker always come through.
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