Rambunctious Meaning and Origin

Jerry from Northern Virginia catches himself describing his poodle Pepper as rambunctious, the wonders how that word came to be. Its origin is uncertain, but it’s one of several long, playful coinages from the early 19th century, including hornswoggle, snollygoster, and scrumptious. It may have been inspired by rumbustious, a word more often used in the UK to mean “unruly” or “boisterous.” This is part of a complete episode.