# Muppet word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748 "2011-02-09T11:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/1 "2011-02-09T11:47:05Z")
Muppet fans: Just something that’s been bugging me through the years. In the original Muppet Movie, when Kermit and Fozzie meet Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Dr. Teeth says something like “this is problem upon which we shall probosculate upon”. Is the word “probosculate” used just to sound impressive (when it is not a word according to [m-w.com](http://m-w.com)), or is he supposed to be confusing some other word? FYI: Googling around, I found a list of Muppet quotes where the word in question was spelled as such, but in quotes…as if to be a pun or an intentional misspelling. But, what word was meant to fit here? ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/2 "2011-02-09T11:56:52Z")
Maybe it’s a mix of words - like speculate and proboscis (given Dr Teeth’s nose)? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/3 "2011-02-09T12:55:33Z")
I’d say it’s a portmanteau word (I hate to give wikipedia links, but: [Blend word - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau) ) … combination of probe and speculate, with a hint of nosiness (probiscus). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/4 "2011-02-09T13:22:19Z")
That, and/or a malapropism for “prognosticate”? ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/5 "2011-02-09T13:52:19Z")
I don’t know why you’re having problems, it’s a perfectly cromulent word. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/6 "2011-02-09T15:11:42Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > I don’t know why you’re having problems, it’s a perfectly cromulent word. Using cromulent words embiggens us all. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/7 "2011-02-09T15:29:21Z")
I would say it’s a garbling of “expostulate,” perhaps by way of “prognosticate.” ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/8 "2011-02-09T16:00:26Z")
I find this thread topic to be scrumtrulescent. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/9 "2011-02-09T17:31:35Z")
Uh … bork, bork, bork! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/10 "2011-02-09T17:42:17Z")
> [@](#): > > I’d say it’s a portmanteau word (I hate to give wikipedia links, but: [Portmanteau - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau) ) … combination of probe and speculate, with a hint of nosiness (probiscus). Could also be “probe” (or “proboscis”) and “osculate”, the latter meaning “kiss”. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/11 "2011-02-09T23:03:44Z")
Dr. Teeth is an old style hipster. He uses jivey lingo like what Cab Calloway did in the '30s. He probably just said it because it sounded good. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/12 "2011-02-11T01:43:28Z")
> [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](#): > > Dr. Teeth is an old style hipster. He uses jivey lingo like what Cab Calloway did in the '30s. He probably just said it because it sounded good. Now you’re on the trolly! ---
**Author:** ![Philbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philbo/32/13259_2.png) [@Philbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philbo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/13 "2023-01-28T15:16:34Z")
I looked it up, and apparently it’s a word both in regular and slang dictionaries. The regular meaning is “to engage in deep and meaningful thought, through use of concentration on the breath through the proboscis, as per meditation.” The slang term is “to intrude upon a matter, particularly where the intrusion is uninvited, such as ‘to stick one’s nose into’ or ‘to meddle.’” Dr. Teeth and the rest of the Muppet crew were frequently involved in meddling in each others affairs. That’s what made them such a close-knit cadre of comedians. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/14 "2023-01-28T17:09:22Z")
Welcome ! I thought Dr. Teeth was based on Dr. John, who often spoke like that. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muppet-word/570748/15 "2023-01-30T07:36:56Z")
> [@Philbo](#): > > I looked it up, and apparently it’s a word both in regular and slang dictionaries. Which “regular dictionaries” does this term appear in? I haven’t found it an any of the usual references (Oxford, Merriam–Webster, etc.).