Crapula: a perfectly "crumulent" word
From the Washington Post I learn that "krapula" is the Finnish word for hangover. I found this a bit unusual at first because if I remember correctly, Finnish is not even an Indo-European language, and "crapula" is a relatively obscure English word meaning the same thing ("crapulent" being the adjective). I suppose it's not implausible the Finns picked up the word from their neighbors. Its origin, according to the OED is obscure but nevertheless comes from the Latin, via the Greek.
Whatever its origin it's an almost perfect word for what it describes. Truly, when one feels crapulent, one "feels like crap". Coincidence?
[L. crapula excessive drinking, inebriation, intoxication, ad. Gr. drunken headache or nausea, the result of a drunken debauch. In adopting the Gr. word, the Romans seem to have put the cause for the result; both senses are found in the English derivatives.]
Whatever its origin it's an almost perfect word for what it describes. Truly, when one feels crapulent, one "feels like crap". Coincidence?
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