Shambolic is a new one on me and so to start the new year right, rather than letting it slip by as I get lazier and lazier, I decided to shape up and hop to it!<2020 “Huge, sometimes violent protests began erupting across Iraq in October, as people angry about unemployment, corruption and shambolic public services poured into the streets.”—nytimes.com, 1 January>
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shambolic adjective (Chiefly British Informal [[Note: After doing archive searches for my quotes below, it appears to me that it is now in fairly common use in the U.S.]]
Definition: Disordered, disorganized, chaotic, confused, unkempt, untidy, messy, undisciplined, mismanaged. <The country’s transportation system is in a shambolic state.><I’ve had a shambolic year, the worst ever.><John lived in a stylishly shambolic artist's studio.>
Etymology: Probably from ‘shambles’ – a scene of great disorder, etc. (perhaps after English ‘symbolic’)
First Known Use: Reported to be ‘in common use’ in 1958, but first use found in print is 1970.
(Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary, Dictionary.com, OxfordDictionaries.com, CollinsDictionary.com)
The following quotes are from The Oxford English Dictionary and archived sources:
_____________________________<1970 “His office in Printing House Square is so impeccably tidy that it is . . . a standing reproach to the standard image of shambolic newspaper offices.”—Times (London), 18 June, page 9>
<1978 “We may have a shambolic landing, Jean. I want you to go right through the aircraft reminding people about the emergency drill.”—News Caper by R. Jansson, xiii., page 110>
<1990 “‘One needn’t look far to see instances where elected officials have engaged in financial chicanery and/or shambolic accountancy in an effort to balance budgets or win reelection,’Zurell said.”—Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut), 26 September, page 183> [[It’s crossed the ocean!]]
<2002 “For better and for worse, Ryan Adams is about as immersed as you can be in the myths and traditions of rock’n’roll. He just doesn’t celebrate it, he elevates it to a Great Truth. . . There is no Great Truth of rock’n’roll, of course, except maybe this: the flaws matter little if you believe in it, and by the end of this sometimes shambolic, sometimes sublime show, you knew he believed.”—The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia), 24 January, page 13>
<2011 “Tributes to Back to Black singer [[Amy Winehouse]] continued to pour in. Her talent was eclipsed over recent years by her battles with drugs and alcohol and her last stage appearances had been derided as shambolic.”—The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada),27 July, 2011>
<2019 “He narrates the book, along with a future Gordon, and Gordon’s parents, both therapists at Topeka’s prominent psychiatric clinic, navigating the twists of their shambolic marriage and fits of temper from their adolescent son.”—The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California), 24 November, page F8> [[Book review of the recently released novel, The Topeka School.]]
Ken Greenwald – January 1, 2020
That was only two years ago. Senility must be setting in.! But I should mention that no one else pointed this out to me either! Is this a sign of our aging community? (<:)