Croggle

A term invented and developed in the course of three-way correspondence between US fans Dean Grennell, Redd Boggs and Robert Silverberg circa late 1940s or early 1950s. Dick Eney's Fancyclopedia II states that 'croggle' combines the words 'crush' & 'goggle', although Grennell himself says it is a combination of 'crumble' & 'joggle'. Eney implies it is a noun, one which describes the state of having been "shocked into momentary physical or mental paralysis".

Harry Warner, Jr., on the other hand, in his A Wealth of Fable (first version published 1976, but bear in mind Warner's career in fandom began much earlier than Eney's) declares 'croggle' "is normally a verb signifying intense disturbance of a subjective nature."

I have always thought of 'croggle' as a verb, as in 'to croggle' somebody, i.e. to startle or stun them to the point of being gobsmacked, with the word 'croggled' better used to describe the resulting state of mind of the victim.

Contributors: CanFancyclopedia

Silverberg later recalled that it was comprised of "crush" and "boggle", not "goggle."

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

(Grennell) Roughly meaning shocked into momentary physical or mental paralysis; a portmanteau-word, apparently, combining "crushed" and "goggled", and usually passive or reflexive in application.

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Fanspeak

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