Sometimes in life, one runs into a genuine kerfuffle.

A what?

Yes, you heard me — or rather read me — right: a kerfuffle. This week’s word is a Scottish colloquialism referring to a “disorder, flurry or agitation,” as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary. Sometimes also spelled curfuffle (or cur’fuffle) or gefuffle — among other variations — a good kerfuffle is a classic commotion, a broad brouhaha, a riotous rumpus or a harried hubbub.

This could be a good or bad thing, depending on the circumstances.

As for where this odd little noun comes from, some etymologists and the OED suspect it has an imitative origin, as the prefix ker- is part of an onomatopoeic formation replicating the falling sound of something heavy — as in kerchunk or kerplunk. Others suspect that the prefix ker- refers to the Scottish Gaelic car, meaning “to twist or bend.”

Fuffle is a Scottish word meaning, literally, a “big fuss,” coming, as it does, from fuff, a word imitating the appearance of puffs of smoke or steam, or the huffing and/or fuming or puffing of an upset person. Hence ker-fuffle has the sense of being thrown into disorder. The verb form of fuff can also refer to a puff on a tobacco pipe, incidentally.

So, “to get into a kerfuffle,” or to find oneself in such a state, implies a certain discombobulation.

The first appearance of this disorderly noun in modern written English — in one of its earlier spellings — came along in about 1813, in Scottish poet George Bruce’s Poems, Ballads and Songs, with the line, “Jeanie’s kirtle, aye sae neat, Gat there a sad carfuffle.”

A bit later, in 1816, Sir Walter Scott used our word in The Antiquary, with the line, “ ... Troth, my lord maun be turned feel outright ... and he puts himself into a curfuffle for ony thing ye could bring him ...” As you may know, Sir Scott (1771-1832) was the Scottish author of Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and the Waverly series, and a pioneer of the historical novel.

A fine later example — and with our modern spelling — comes from one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, with the line, “I could put up with any amount of monotony far more patiently than even the smallest disturbance, bother, bustle, or what the Scotch call kurfuffle.”

So, now you know what the kerfuffle is about kerfuffle. Before you fuff your way into a fuffle, and get into a curfuffle, think about the etymology of kerfuffle. Please feel free to send me your word ideas and until next time, cheers!

Reach columnist Will Mari at features@dailyuw.com.