Here come the fuzz.
I take it upon myself to research the strangest things. Fuzzy? Just where did this description come from, and what does it really mean? Sounds like a three-am project to me.
So, consulting the online Merriam Webster reveals:
Etymology: perhaps from Low German fussig loose, spongy
Date: 17131 : marked by or giving a suggestion of fuzz
2 : lacking in clarity or definition
The Shorter OED was scarcely more helpful.
1 : Not firm, spongy.
2 : Frayed into loose, light fibres; covered with fuzz; fluffy.
3 : Blurred, indistinct; imprecise, vague.
The OED was more helpful in the respect that wandering the page, I find that fuzzily is a valid adverb. The most crucial piece of vocabulary, fuzzle is a valid verb. You can fuzzle, and not just be befuzzled. It’s also handy to know that there are such things as fuzzwords. I know I sure read a lot of them, especially when reading criticism. Don’t get me started on words like paradigm. The usage of that word doesn’t make much sense outside the linguistic arena, it’s too fuzzy. I got your new paradigm’s hangin’.
It was somewhat disheartening though, to find out that fuzzy-wuzzy wasn’t a bear. Apparently, he had hair. According to the OED, he was either a black person, or a Sudanese soldier, or a resident of New Guinea.
I suppose it’s my fault for posting while fuzzy. I’m just not sure if it’s spongy, frayed, or indistinct. I think I’ll opt for spongy. Because I absorb the weirdest things, and . . . well, I’ll leave it at that.
