Log in or Sign up
  1. mallemaroking love

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Nautical, the visiting and carousing of seamen in the Greenland ships.

Wiktionary

  1. n. archaic, nautical carousing on icebound Greenland whaling ships.

Etymologies

  1. Apparently from a confusion of two similar Dutch words. The first of these is the obsolete mallemerok a “foolish woman”, from malle, foolish, plus marok, from French marotte, an object of foolish affection; a “bauble”. The second word mallemok is a name for some persons among the crew of a whaling vessel. (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “For example, "mallemaroking" — a word meaning the "carousing of seamen in ice-bound ships.”

    Defined Intervention

  • “One of my favourites is "mallemaroking"; for a great collection of peculiar words with discussions of etymology and usage, check out Michael Quinion's”

    Slaw

  • “Without Chambers, the genealogist would be left to wonder why her great-grandfather was set adrift by Admiral Peary for being a "mallemaroking jobernowl.”

    Defined Intervention

  • “[Stedman's Medical Dictionary, Baltimore] mallemaroking ... carousing of seamen in icebound ships.”

    Verbatim: VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XIX No 2

Sorry, no related words found. Log in or sign up to add your own.

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘mallemaroking’.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • jmjarmstrong JM is off to mallemaroking practice - back next season! Nov 22, 2009

  • gangerh Pallmallemaroking - the behaviour of a drunken Sub-Lieutenant Wales staggering home in midwinter. Oct 24, 2008

  • reesetee Ouch! That hurts my tongue. ;-) Oct 23, 2008

  • whichbe Synchronlexicity? Oct 23, 2008

  • reesetee That happens to me surprisingly often. There must be a word for it.... :-) Oct 23, 2008

  • gangerh I'd never heard this word before last week. I climbed into my car today and the radio came on at the start of a discussion about mallemaroking with the definitions and history of the word.
    (Well, that's better than my usual contribution to this page!) Oct 23, 2008

  • john frindley and friends, I'll soon truncate the length of words in the right hand column, should hopefully prevent the need for vigilante justice. Oct 20, 2008

  • sionnach Yes: I'm sorry too - I got a little carried away. Like gangerh, I was just trying to get that evil word out of the top ten discussions so that new comments on the home page wouldn't be squeezed into a hideous pillar of text, only seven characters wide.

    Despite unwelcome marsupial interference. Oct 20, 2008

  • chained_bear I second frindley's kind but heartfelt remark.

    It is also possible--I suggest merely as a possible consideration--to delete comments. Oct 20, 2008

  • reesetee Yes, I agree, frindley. This whole idea of adding nonsense comments to tinker with the scores on the home page gets to be a bit much when you're sorting through hundreds of comments. And I say that with all due respect. :-) Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh Oh, dear. Sorry, frindley and all others affected. I wasn't aware of this situation. Was just trying to correct an ugly screen situation caused by the 'o-word' being in the top 10 most commented.
    I think I've found a simpler, 'one-comment' solution. Hope that doesn't adversely affect your mobile screen. Oct 20, 2008

  • frindley Oh, gangerh and other dear friends, please please have a heart for us Wordies who use Wordie on our mobile phones when out and about. There is nothing more disheartening than to see that the "last 20 comments" are restricted to one word and, in essence, one comment. Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry VIII Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry VII Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry VI Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry V Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry IV Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry III Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry II Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh mallemaroking henry I Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh not very mallemaroking funny Oct 20, 2008

  • gangerh very mallemaroking funny Oct 20, 2008

  • chained_bear A different stutter? Oct 19, 2008

  • gangerh mallemarodeborking Oct 19, 2008

  • gangerh mallemarodeborking Oct 19, 2008

  • gangerh mallemarodeborking Oct 19, 2008

  • gangerh mallemarodeborking Oct 19, 2008

  • asativum Don't. I live across from the subway line I take to work. But if I were stuck in traffic, I would make every attempt to frolic. Oct 18, 2008

  • reesetee Frolic is the last thing I do when stuck in traffic, Asa. How do you manage it? Oct 17, 2008

  • asativum Maybe the frolicking of commuters stuck in traffic? Oct 17, 2008

  • bilby Shoppers don't carouse much where I live, but I like the sentiment. Oct 17, 2008

  • frindley I think we could revive this for contemporary urban usage. Or is there an existing word for "carousing of shoppers in carpark-bound malls"? Oct 17, 2008

  • zuccaciyecioglu keelhaul the lot of 'em. Oct 16, 2008

  • reesetee Perhaps you should next try to tie him to the taffrail when she's yardarm under?

    Just a thought. Oct 16, 2008

  • bilby I tried to put him in the scuppers with a hosepipe on him. He weren't best pleased. Oct 16, 2008

  • reesetee Bilby, what did you do with the drunken sailor? Oct 16, 2008

  • chained_bear Hike! Gee! Haw! Lead dog! Wheel dog! ... umm... Snow! Oct 16, 2008

  • dontcry Mush! Oct 16, 2008

  • bilby *leaps out from behind a drunken sailor and whumps Asa with a frozen snowball* Oct 16, 2008

  • asativum I suspect this is a derogatory derivation from malamute. Just 'cause I'm hoping to pick a fight. Oct 16, 2008

  • reesetee Delightful to say when frustrated. Oct 16, 2008

  • chained_bear Yes, it reminds me of my spawn, whom I shamelessly stole it from. Say it with me...

    Gah!

    See? Isn't that delightful? Oct 15, 2008

  • rolig Well, I just noticed it was on your "delightful ejaculation" list. Oct 15, 2008

  • chained_bear Sadly, no, rolig. Well, it's delightful to ejaculate thus, but it generally indicates frustration. In a comic way. Oct 15, 2008

  • rolig I take it "gah" is a delightful ejaculation.

    But I thought this had something to do with French New Wave films set in Morocco. Oct 15, 2008

  • reesetee Gah! Oct 15, 2008

  • chained_bear Gah! I learn words and then forget them two days later! Oct 15, 2008

  • reesetee Gah? Oct 15, 2008

  • chained_bear Not quite. Gah! Oct 15, 2008

  • reesetee Apparently it derived from the Dutch for "foolish" or "silly," and an 1812 citation spells it "mallemuching." Does that look familiar, c_b? Oct 15, 2008

  • chained_bear I saw this the other day, I think... Is it Newfoundlandese? Not in my Dictionary of Newfoundland English, but I know I've seen this before... Different spelling? Oct 15, 2008

  • frindley Mallemaroking - the carousing of seamen in icebound ships. A wonderfully useful word! How many icebound ships do we all know?
    (Sue H, Tiverton)

    frindley thinks c_b may be able to give this word a home as well… Oct 15, 2008

  • sionnach The behavior of drunken sailors on icebound ships. Jan 31, 2008

Tweets

Looking for tweets for mallemaroking.

‘mallemaroking’ has been looked up 1299 times, added to 16 lists, commented on 53 times, and has a Scrabble score of 22.