mugwump

Pronounced: MUG-wump, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word, but couldn’t define it properly

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Yesterday’s word

The word pinder refers to a peanut.

Background/Notes

This word, according to the dictionary I looked it up in, says that it is primarily used in South Carolina. The word itself comes from the Bantu language in Africa; the peanut itself is native to South America (not the United States), and was first taken to Africa, where it acquired this name (among others). It was then brought to North America. Other words for peanut are “groundnut”, “earthnut”, and “goober” (or as I heard it in grade school, “goober pea”). Like pinder, “goober” comes from the Bantu language.

First usage

This word showed up in the late 1690s

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Rejected word

The word dyspepsia was a borderline case: I was pretty close to the meaning, although there is a sense of the word that I wasn’t aware of, but I still decided not to use it.