hurlyburly

See also: hurly-burly

English

Alternative forms

• hurly-burly

Etymology

A combination of hurling and burling. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Needs sourcing; see talk page.”)

Noun

hurlyburly (countable and uncountable, plural hurlyburlies)

1. (archaic) A noisy and disorderly tumult and confusion, especially as of battle.
   • 1550: Mierdman, Steuen, The market or fayre of usurers

     ...for nought is ceaſſed and gone already, what an hurlyburly (?) inconvenience ſhoulde followe or it maye be eaſely perceived.

   • 1606: Shakespeare, William, Macbeth

     First Witch: When shall we three meet again / In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

     Second Witch: When the hurlyburly's done, / When the battle's lost and won.

   • c. 1933, “Twentieth-Century Blues”, performed by Noël Coward:

     Why is it that civilized humanity / Can make the world so wrong? / In this hurly-burly of insanity / Our dreams cannot last long

Translations

noisy and disorderly tumult

• Finnish: melske
• Greek: αναμπουμπούλα (el) f (anampoumpoúla)
• Irish: hurla burla m, gírle guairle m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 喧騒 (ja) (kensō)
• Swedish: oväsen (sv) n, tumult (sv)

See also

• hustle and bustle
• hurluberlu