Funk. In a funk or blue funk, To be. The word may derive from Old French funkier, ‘to smoke’, though the connection is uncertain. A funk is a state of apprehensive fear or abject fear. The word first appeared at Oxford in the first half of the 18th Century.
“If I was going to be flogged next minute, I should be in a blue funk.” – THOMAS HUGHES: Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Pt I, ch ii (1857)
- Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Sixteenth Edition revised by Adrian Room.
I know I don’t comment here too often, but I wanted to let you know that the archaic definition of the week is one of my favorite parts of your blog. Love it.
It’s fun to do!
But, I have to admit it keeps me constantly on the look-out for new sources.