# Some words that shouldn't exist: copacetic, and, discombobulated. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718 "2012-12-21T08:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/21 "2012-12-21T13:49:26Z")
Hey, discombobulated is one of my favorite words. If it was taken away by the “national board of redundant words board” I would be … disoriented(? can I still say that?) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/22 "2012-12-21T13:50:14Z")
Words very rarely have perfect substitutions. “Use” and “utilize,” maybe, but even those are developing connotations. “Copacetic,” for instance, doesn’t really have an exact equivalent that says all the things it does (and the impression using a word is part of its connotation). If words don’t have a use, they’re dropped from the language without fuss. If they remain in the language, there’s a reason for them. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/23 "2012-12-21T14:09:07Z")
I don’t have an opinion one way or the other on these two particular words, but will just add that there is a rather well-known boxing ring announcer [Discombobulating Jones](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDUBmra_yBU). (He’s not credited in this clip, but that is Jones.) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/24 "2012-12-21T15:50:32Z")
Words, really, comprise the only army I have on my side. Don’t deprive me of any of my soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/25 "2012-12-21T16:26:56Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I remember people on the Dope claiming this before, (possibly discussing the Rural Juror episode of 30 Rock) and I don’t get it. do Americans pronounce the word in a weird way or something? In UK English it’s very simple: rurr-rool, (to rhyme with purr-wool). I’ve never heard anyone have a problem with that word. I don’t have a problem with oil (oy-uhl) but some folks say it like “awl” – I could see rural having a similar issue. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/26 "2012-12-21T16:48:27Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I remember people on the Dope claiming this before, (possibly discussing the Rural Juror episode of 30 Rock) and I don’t get it. do Americans pronounce the word in a weird way or something? In UK English it’s very simple: rurr-rool, (to rhyme with purr-wool). I’ve never heard anyone have a problem with that word. I think it’s the same phenomenon that has some Americans pronouncing warrior to rhyme with lawyer (woy-er) and mirror as me-or. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/27 "2012-12-21T17:04:34Z")
I personally don’t understand why we need both “offer” and “proffer.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/28 "2012-12-21T17:10:56Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > You want to pick on a word? Pick on ‘rural’. I totally agree. “Rural” sounds like something a rabid dog would say. Or a car with a starter problem. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/29 "2012-12-21T17:15:50Z")
I submit “obvious” for extinction. It is used far too much in place the the simple and elegant “clearly”. If something is obvious, you need not alert the reader to it, and by using it, you are talking down to them. If something is not obvious, well, then it’s not. Other similar words: “Recalcitrant”. Is anyone ever “calcitrant”? “Irregardless” - you can just use the normal “regardless”, unless you are telling people to ignore what you say. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/30 "2012-12-21T17:27:43Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > “Irregardless” Well, that word _doesn’t_ actually exist, so we’re okay there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/31 "2012-12-21T17:33:51Z")
Clearly and obvious aren’t even the same part of speech. One is an adverb and the other is an adjective. Clear and obvious are not even that close of synonyms. Clearly and obviously pretty much are, but not the adjectival forms. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/32 "2012-12-21T17:38:12Z")
At the Milwaukee WI airport, after you pass through the TSA screening, there is an area with chairs and tables where people can sit and put their shoes back on and re-cram all their items back into their travel bags. The sign hanging from the ceiling over that section is labeled, “Recombobulation Area.” I like it. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/33 "2012-12-21T17:48:24Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Well, that word _doesn’t_ actually exist, so we’re okay there. 😃 I know, but for a word that does not exist, it sure gets used a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/34 "2012-12-21T17:51:51Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > At the Milwaukee WI airport, after you pass through the TSA screening, there is an area with chairs and tables where people can sit and put their shoes back on and re-cram all their items back into their travel bags. > > The sign hanging from the ceiling over that section is labeled, “Recombobulation Area.” > > I like it. I really like that too. Did the person who came up with that do it as a kinda joke, or do they have Asperger’s? I would like to know that. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/35 "2012-12-21T18:10:02Z")
But I really, really like discombobulated. It just sounds so much like what it means…frazzled and disorganized and confused all at once. When I hear discombobulated spoken, I can almost see the shit tumbling out of Fibber McGee’s closet. I’m actually OK with copacetic too, but it does attract, I confess, a certain kind of user. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/36 "2012-12-21T19:05:39Z")
Inflammable Overwhelmed. It’s a useful word but nobody says they are whelmed. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/37 "2012-12-21T19:26:29Z")
Gullible - I mean, it’s not really a word, and it’s not in the dictionary (look it up!), so quit using it. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/38 "2012-12-21T19:34:43Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I’m pretty sure copacetic is only pretending to be a word (yeah, yeah, it’s pretending harder in some places than others). > > Farnarkled, now. THAT’s a word! “Copacetic” _is_ mysterious; from the [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=copacetic): > [@](#): > > 1919, but it may have origins in 19c. U.S. Southern black speech. Origin unknown, suspects include Latin, Yiddish (cf. Heb. _kol b’seder_), Italian, Louisiana French (_coupe-sétique_), and Native American. None is considered convincing by linguists. I remember it as a word used by hipsters. That is, The Original Hipsters–reefer smoking, jazz digging cool cats. That certainly fits with the black influence. Simpletons\* probably object to “etymology.” Why not just use the simplest dictionary available? (Definitely not the _OED_.) Who needs to know all that other stuff? Some of us do… - Of course “simpleton” means “those who like to keep it simple”! ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/39 "2012-12-21T19:45:46Z")
“Literally” is going to have to be put down soon. I know it has its legitimate uses but those are being so overwhelmed by the incorrect usage that the meaning is gone. Like, literally gone. Might as well put “figuratively” down at the same time since it’s not used anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/40 "2012-12-21T19:53:28Z")
How in the hell is my uncle supposed to describe his eggnog buzz without saying “copacetic wonderfulness” thus thrusting the phrase into regular usage among my friends? HUH? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718.md?page=3)