flummoxed

adjective 

(from the verb “to flummox” - to confuse someone so much that they don’t know what to do)

- completely unable to understand : utterly confused or perplexed

Merriam-Webster

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ORIGIN

mid 19th century: probably from a British dialect, perhaps from Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, southern Cheshire, or Sheffield.

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TALKING POINT

When Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway personal transporter, applied for a permit to erect a wind turbine on his three-acre island on Long Island Sound (called North Dumpling), local zoning authorities denied his request.

“I declared my independence,” recalls Kamen. He filed papers to secede from the United States and issued his own currency (the Dumpling, which is engraved with the likenesses of Kamen’s friends and family). He also generously offered “foreign aid” to the United States and asked to sign a non-aggression pact with the state of New Hampshire. 

The FLUMMOXED local political bosses quickly learned a lesson that Kamen’s parents learned decades earlier: They rolled their eyes and let him have his way. North Dumpling now gets its power from a wind turbine.

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SYNONYMS

confused, baffled, bewildered, discombobulated, flabbergasted, mystified, nonplussed, stumped

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation, say something like:

“”They were FLUMMOXED by the order to completely re-do the presentation.”

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https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Have a nice weekend,

Paul Smith