Dictionary

whangdoodle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwæŋ.duː.dl̩/
• (US) audio
• /ˈhwæŋ.duː.dl̩/ without the wine–whine merger

Etymology

Of American origin. First use appears c.1856. Popularized by appearing in a sermon parody attributed to William P. Brannan as "Where the lion roareth and the whangdoodle mourneth for her first-born," published in The Harp of a Thousand Strings: Or, Laughter for a Lifetime (1858). Roald Dahl uses the term in at least three stories of his: James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Minpins. In at least two of those stories, namely Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Minpins, the whangdoodle is stated to be a vicious monster.

Meanings

1. (humorous, often) A whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction; a bugbear.
   • "I'm n-n-not a tor-tor-tortoise," stuttered the curious creature, "I'm a wha-wha-whang-whang-doodle." "A whangdoodle! What's that?" 1901, Charles M. Snyder, Runaway Robinson, page 53:
   • “That wood [the Forest of Sin]” his [Little Billy's] mother said, “is full of the most blood-thirsty wild beasts in the world.” / “You mean tigers and lions?” Little Billy asked. / “Much worse than that,” his mother said. / “What's worse than tigers and lions, Mummy?” / “Whangdoodles are worse,” his mother said, “and Hornswogglers and Snozzwanglers and Vermicious Knids. And worst of all is the Terrible Bloodsuckling Toothpluckling Stonechuckling Spittler. There's one of them there, too.” 1991, Roald Dahl, The Minpins, Viking Penguin, →ISBN, page 7:
   • In the Big Rock Candy Mountains lies a happy hobo land where the boxcars are all empty, where there are cigaret trees and rock-and-rye springs and the whangdoodle sings. 1960 August 22, “Yarns and Whoppers and Practical Jokes”, in Life, 49 (8): 56:
   • Bob gave the man fair warning. Told him if he ever prowled around his home again he'd better come a–fogging; the man took a chance and now he's where the woodbine twineth and the whangdoodle mourneth for its mate. 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter II, in The Understanding Heart:
2. (obsolete) A term of disparagement.
   • For a man who can listen for an hour to Mr. White, the whining, nasal, Whangdoodle preacher, and then sit down and write, without shedding melancholy from his pen as water slides from a duck's back, is more than mortal. 1862, Mark Twain, Mark Twain's letters: 1853-1866, Volume 1 (published 1987), page 171
   • […]and I want you to conflumux everything got up by Mrs. Davis or Miss Lane, or any other of these political whangdoodles. 1867, John Ballou Newbrough, The fall of Fort Sumter, or, Love and war in 1860-61, page 131:
   • "Now, Ben, you're a lawyer. You don't give a whang-doodle about anything mechanical." 1928 (Mar.), Martin Bunn, "When You Buy a Car", Popular Science 112 (3): 138
3. A ruling in which the opening stake limits are doubled for the next play after the appearance of a very good hand.
   • It is sometimes agreed in advance that after a hand of certain rank, such as Four of a Kind or a Full House, is shown, a Whangdoodle or Jackpot must be played[…] 1940, Clement Wood, Gloria Goddard, The Complete Book of Games, page 296:

Forms

Coordinates

jackpot

Hypernyms

monster

Synonyms

bogeyman · gremlin · bugbear

Translations (19)

it babau (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fr loup-garou (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · es hombre del costal (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · es hombre del saco (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fr croquemitaine (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fr bête noire (term of disparagement) · es bu (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · es ropavejero (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fr père Fouettard (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fr Bonhomme sept-heures (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fi menninkäinen (term of disparagement) · it incubo (term of disparagement) · es sacamantecas (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fi menninkäinen (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · fr tonton macoute (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · es pesadilla (term of disparagement) · fr cauchemar (term of disparagement) · es Tío Saín (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction) · es coco (whimsical monster in folklore and children's fiction)

wikipedia: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory · wikipedia: The Minpins · wikipedia: James and the Giant Peach · wikipedia: Roald Dahl