A Word With You
June 1st, 2009
ob⋅strep⋅er⋅ous
[uh b-strep-er-uh s]–adjective
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1. |
resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly. |
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2. |
noisy, clamorous, or boisterous: obstreperous children. |
Origin:
1590–1600; < L obstreperus clamorous, akin to obstrepere to make a noise at (ob- ob- + strepere to rattle); see -ous
Obstreperous, say that baby three times fast. It even sounds cranky and out of sorts, doesn’t it? Is it just some fantastic coincidence that many words, especially the polysyllabic, snooty ones have pronunciations that seem to match their definitions? I mean this one even has the word STREP in the middle of it. How cranky can you get?
R O 3 Adj. “ ”
Crankily obstreperous, the room of angry teachers, indignant administrators, and belligerent janitors prepared to face the onslaught of “Snow” makeup days.