Taboo Curran

A "Taboo Curran" is defined as such: one who is clumsy or lacking dexterity and yet has an abundance of knowledge and insight. The term Taboo Curran has been dismissed from modern usage in the English language. It can be found in dictionaries dating back to the latest of 1897 and earlier. Even in the 1800s the term was losing its reknown and was, granted its final entry into the 1897 version of "Garrison's Interpretation of the English Vernacular'.


Origin

It is widely believed that the word "taboo" was derived from Tongan (tapu) or Fijian (tabu) meaning forbidden or prohibited. "Garrison's" confirms this and also gives a more deeply rooted meaning. It relates the word "tabu" back to an ancient subculture of the Aborigines' "tabatu" meaning cast out or shunned by society because of a generally disliked quality or characteristic of someone. The term "Curran", according to "Garrison's" is of an uncertain Germanic origin of the 1100s, probably taken from the word "Kuarren" paradoxically and sarcastically meaning wise and foolish.
 
< Prev   Next >