what exactly is a flibbertigibbet, you ask?

[finn's mom]

Hey, there. My name is Bored. And, I'm a flibbertigibbet. No, seriously, someone just asked me what a flibbertigibbet is. Well, I'll tell you. It's a silly, scatterbrained person. In my signature, it's actually a quote from one of my very favorite movies. And, that movie, if you wanna know...is Joe Vs the Volcano. I watched it years ago, and, thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. Then, about four years ago, I watched it with someone I loved, and, he helped me see the movie for what I think it really is. It's a fable, so, it's not based in reality at all. The first 3/4ths of the movie are incredible, and, the ending is great. The time spent on the actual island is kinda bad, but, the rest of the movie makes up for it. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star in it, and, it's the first film they did together. They are pure magic together. She plays three different roles that Tom Hanks' character encounters throughout the film. One of the characters is Angelica, a flibbertigibbet. Angelica is an LA girl, superfulous and lost, and, she first meets Joe (Hanks) at the airport. She says something about her father telling her to tell Joe not to tell her anything about why she's picking him up or why he's in LA, because she's completely untrustworthy. "I'm a flibbertigibbet", is what she says to him. It's funny. Later, she and Joe share a deeper, harder moment, and, she's crying and says "I TOLD you I'm a flibbertigibbet." So, there you have it. The much aniticpated, far too long, explanation of that part of my signature. Sorry guys, I told you I was a flibbertigibbet.

[sandragonfly]

haha, hello bored. my name is restless.

hmm those are my favorite actresses too, gotta see it someday.

flibbertigibbet thread.. hope we get some sleep sooon!

[smokey the elder]

Actually its original source is much older: The Sound of Music, from "How do you Solve a Problem like Maria"...."a flibberigibbet, a clown." It's a cute word!

[finn's mom]

Originally posted by smokey the elder
Actually its original source is much older: The Sound of Music, from "How do you Solve a Problem like Maria"...."a flibberigibbet, a clown." It's a cute word!

Well, I just meant the quote I used, not just the word. I love the sound of music, that's one of my favorite musicals! And, I'm guessing it's probably older than that movie, as well.

[gini]

And look what I found on Google, you silly woman!



A frivolous, flighty, or excessively talkative person.
This is a fine word to throw out, in the appropriate circumstances, though there’s a risk of tripping over all those syllables. That’s no doubt why it has had so many spellings. The original seems to have been recorded about 1450 as fleper-gebet, which may have been just an imitation of the sound of meaningless speech (babble and yadda-yadda-yadda have similar origins). It started out to mean a gossip or chattering person, but quickly seems to have taken on the idea of a flighty or frivolous woman. A century later it had become respectable enough for Bishop Latimer to use it in a sermon before King Edward VI, though he wrote it as flybbergybe. The modern spelling is due to Shakespeare, who borrowed it from one of the 40 fiends listed in a book by Samuel Harsnet in 1603. In King Lear Edgar uses it for a demon or imp: “This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet. .. He gives the web and the pin, squints the eye, and makes the harelip; mildews the white wheat, and hurts the poor creature of earth”. There has been yet a third sense, taken from a character of Sir Walter Scott’s in Kenilworth, for a mischievous and flighty small child. But despite Shakespeare and Scott, the most usual sense is still the original one.

[finn's mom]

Originally posted by gini
And look what I found on Google, you silly woman!

That's awesome! I had no idea! And, yeah, I'm definitely a flibbertigibbet. I always sortof suspected it, but, now, there's no doubt at all! And, you know, it's ok. The word makes me laugh out loud, so, I am going to make it a word I use every day from here on out. It'll certainly make me smile daily, and, lord knows, it's hard to do that every day.