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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
GUEST,Tom Dowling BS: What is a 'hugger mugger'? (26) RE: BS: What is a 'hugger mugger'? 26 Jul 03

I believe that 'hugger mugger' is one of those garbled Anglo-Indian loan words. I think such words, as a group or type, go under the heading of "Hobson-Jobson", itself a garbled Anglicization of what I recall being an ecstatic utterance in Arabic. I have forgotten the underlying Arabic words, but think they were a refrain or shout of an inspired nature. There is an entire dictionary of Hobson-Jobson and it makes for great reading. I would guess the underlying phrase to be from Hindi or a closely related language of the subcontinent of India.

Tom D.

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