absquatulate

English

WOTD – 17 June 2006

Etymology

Attested since the 1830s in American English, a jocular mock-Latin word.[1] Blend of abscond +‎ squat +‎ perambulate, as ab- (“away (from)”) (as in abscond) + squat + *-ulate (as in perambulate, properly -ate), hence meaning “get up (from a squat) and depart (quickly)”.[1][2] The middle portion was perhaps influenced by -le (“(frequentative)”) and the dialectal term squattle (“depart”); compare contemporary skedaddle.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /æb.ˈskwɑt͡ʃ.ʊ.leɪt/, /æbz.ˈkwɑt͡ʃ.ʊ.leɪt/, /æbz.ˈkwɑt͡ʃ.ə.leɪt/
Audio (US) (file)

Verb

absquatulate (third-person singular simple present absquatulates, present participle absquatulating, simple past and past participle absquatulated)

(intransitive, slang) To leave quickly or in a hurry; to depart, flee. [from 19th c.][3]
- 1840 January 9, “The President's Message, No. 2”, in Lincoln Telegraph, volume IV, number 41, Bath, Maine, page 3:
  Even within the past year, several Land Officers and keepers of public monies--the Collector of New Orleans and Plattsburg--the Post Masters of Mobile and Worcester have made serious and prominent additions to the long catalogue of absquatulating defaulters.
- 1910, H. G. Wells, The history of Mr. Polly:
  " […] Now I see you again—I’m satisfied. I’m satisfied completely. See? I’m going to absquatulate, see? Hey Presto right away.”
  He turned to his tea for a moment, finished his cup noisily, stood up.
(intransitive, slang) to abscond.

Synonyms

(leave quickly): abscond, decamp, skedaddle, vamoose
See Thesaurus:leave

Derived terms

abscotchalater

Translations

to leave quickly or in a hurry; to take oneself off; to decamp; to depart

Bulgarian: вдигам гълъбите (vdigam gǎlǎbite)
Czech: zdejchnout se
Dutch: er vanonder muizen, 'm smeren, zijn biezen pakken, wegwezen (nl), er vanonder trekken
German: fliehen (de), fortlaufen (de), davonmachen (de)
Japanese: 逃げる (ja) (にげる, nigeru)
Korean: 뺑소니치다 (ppaengsonichida), 종적을 감추다 (jongjeogeul gamchuda)
Polish: zwiewać
Swedish: dunsta (sv), smita (sv), fly (sv), dra (sv)

References

Michael Quinion (3 August 2002), “Absquatulate”, in World Wide Words.
New Orleans Weekly Picayune, December 1839
Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “absquatulate”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 9.