rigmarole (2009-10-15)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: ['rig-mê-rol (not 'ri-gê-mê-rol)]

Definition: (1) Rambling, disconnected speech; (2) red tape, complicated procedure or process.

Usage: Although it sounds a bit colloquial, today's word bears the stamp of approval of no less a literary figure than Lord Byron. In 'Don Juan' (1818) Byron wrote, "His speech was a fine sample, on the whole, Of rhetoric, which the learn'd call 'rigmarole'." There is, of course, plenty of rigmarole in the less poetic affairs of ordinary mortals, "The rigmarole for registering to get married in this state was so dismaying, we decided to call off the wedding and remain just friends."

Suggested Usage: Resist the temptation to insert an extra [a] in today's word. It is pronounced simply as noted above. The noun "rigmarolery" has been used, as well as two adjectives, "rigmarolish" and "rigmarolic." While they were created with jocular aims in mind, we see no grammatical reason barring their use when the appropriate occasion arises.

Etymology: Today's word is an alteration of obsolete ragman roll "catalog" from the name of a scroll used in Ragman('s) Roll, a game in which objects on strings were pulled from a scroll, sometimes to gamble, sometimes for fun. The name may ultimately come from Ragemon le bon "Ragemon the Good," the title of a collection of poems about a character of that name. The original meaning of "rigmarole" was simply a long list, a catalog. Now, "roll" comes from Latin rotula "little wheel" (from rota "wheel") via Old French roler "to roll." Clearly "rotate," "rotary," "rotunda" and several other words go back to "rota" but so does "rodeo," the Spanish word for "detour, roundup" derived from rodear "to twist, wind about" from rueda "wheel, ring," a natural descendent of Latin rota.