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Watch under

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on February 05, 2010 at 18:08

In Reply to: Watch under posted by Johnny O on February 05, 2010 at 11:34:

: I came across the word chunder (as in to vomit) the other day, with a note that it could have come from an abbreviation of a nautical term "watch under", or alternatively from a cartoon character in The Bulletin - Chunder Loo. Any thoughts on that one?

Michael Quinion of World Wide Words dismisses the "watch under!" explanation as folk etymology and goes for the Chunder Loo one. Quinion is usually very reliable, so I for one am happy to trust his opinion. It's here: www.worldwidewords.org/ qa/qa-chu1.htm (VSD)

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