View source for Uffish

Grumpy, crotchety, ill-tempered. It’s a neologism of [[Lewis Carroll]]’s, from his nonsense [[poem]] “Jabberwocky” (in ''Through the Looking-Glass'', 1871).

 And as in uffish thought he stood,
 The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
 Came whiffling through the tulgey wood

Carroll defined it as “a state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish.” 

The word made it into a few [[mundane]] dictionaries, but it is far from [[mainstream]]; it’s not particular to [[fandom]], either, but it’s used enough [[we]] thought we should define it. Don’t be uffish about it, OK?

See also: [[Grotch]]. 


{{fanspeak|start=1871}}