Friday 22 June 2012

Bimble



The OED has just released their trimensual list of those lucky new words that have been admitted to their hallowed pages. You can see the whole lot here - and I imagine that someone more current than I will write about the significance of paywall and quantitative easing. The word I like was bimble, because I like the way it sounds, and I like the fact that the sound suggests the action.

To bimble is:

To move at a leisurely pace, esp. on foot; to amble, wander.

And a bimble is therefore a leisurely excursion, and I am therefore a bimbler. The word seems to have been invented in the Falklands war, which makes the affair sound much more relaxed than I had imagined.

The Inky Fool Blog
A pleasant bimble

9 comments:

  1. bimble.com
    is available through Go Daddy Auctions®!
    View
    Current Price: $45,000.00 | Auction Ends: 7/6/2012 9:20:00 AM PDT

    (I am not the seller, just had a look for the domain)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well! I knew they'd invented(?) 'yomping' during the Falklands' War, but I hadn't heard of 'bimble'. Remarkable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was also the first thing that struck me: that "yomp" seems the exact opposite and I first became aware of it in the Falklands War news coverage.

      That noted etymological authority, Wikipedia, (!) suggests yomp did not originate then. So, when did it, Inky Fool? We need to know.

      Delete
  3. I was born in 1958 and as a child my mum often accused me of bimbling about aimlessly !

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  4. I was born in 1950 and Bimble was a word I was familiar with as a child.
    I do not see where the falklands connection comes in.

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  5. My boyfriend who was in the Falklands war says he was introduced to the word and concept of blimbling when he joined the army in 1977 from having been accused of such by training NCOs at Sandhurst. The Brigade of Guards was the main provider of said NCOs. He is pleased to have passed this concept on to his children. A great conceptual word that conveys a leisurely approach to ambulation.

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  6. My uncle, when in National Service in the Infantry, was told to 'stop bimbling' and 'start marching' - left-right left-right.....I had certainly never heard of 'Yomping' until the Falklands, i also quite liked the term 'Bennies' to describe the local residents as they all wore woollen hat similiar to the character from Crossroads. They were ordered not to refer to the locals as such and so instead referred to them as 'Stills' 'cos they're still 'Bennies!!!

    Laurie -

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    ReplyDelete
  8. a lovely album with a lovely title: http://www.fishrecords.co.uk/reviews/bimbling.htm

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