English Language & Usage Asked on February 27, 2021
(Note to the dyslexic: be sure NOT to confuse this with “Google”.)
Horse and goggle –> Horse ‘n’ goggle –> Horsengoggle
There is a Wikipedia entry for this hand game: a kind of rock-paper-scissors, or drawing straws for a group to pick a single ‘winner’.
My question is, within the context of this game, where did the name come from?
My best guesses:
The game may have started in Germany, or from an American whose family came from Germany, so maybe “goggle” has some alternate meaning lost in translation?
The term horsen is an archaic term meaning “horses”
From Middle English horsen, alternative plural of hors, equivalent to horse + -en (plural suffix). Wiktionary
The term gog (noun) is an obsolete term, which means haste; ardent desire to go, and M&W define it as stir, excitement, eagerness.
The suffix -le:
From Middle English -el, from Old English -el, -ol, -ul (agent suffix), from Proto-Germanic * -ilaz (agent suffix). Cognate with West Frisian -el, Dutch -el, Low German -el, German -el.
‘A suffix forming agent nouns from verbs’:
Intuitive Guess: horsengoggle could mean: “horses who can't wait to begin/start/go”
Correct answer by Mari-Lou A on February 27, 2021
My guess is that it is a nonsense word and it's origin has no meaning other than thought adequately silly by it's inventor.
Answered by David Brandt on February 27, 2021
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