Buzz
‘Rigmarole’ refers to something complex and bothersome, which might suggest it originates like words such as ‘gobbledygook,’ ‘kerfuffle,’ ‘to-do,’ and ‘blabbityblab,’ possibly from sounds or fanciful ideas. However, the origin of ‘rigmarole’ is tied to a 13th-century document called the Ragman Roll.
Edward I of England, famously known as the Hammer of the Scots, demanded that Scottish nobles pledge their loyalty to him by signing oaths, which were collected in a series of parchments that came to be known as the Ragman Roll (or Ragman Rolls, or Ragman’s Roll). The origin of the word ‘Ragman’ is debated. It could be linked to a Scandinavian term for cowardice (in Icelandic, ‘ragmenni’ means coward), or it might have its roots in a medieval word for the devil.
Ragman was also a game involving a scroll of parchment with strings hanging from it, each pointing to different verses, likely of a bawdy nature. Players would pick a string to reveal a verse, which was read aloud for everyone’s amusement.
Over time, the term ‘ragman roll,’ referring to a lengthy scroll of parchment filled with ‘nonsense,’ evolved into ‘rigmarole,’ symbolizing a prolonged and unnecessarily tedious ordeal. It’s a word that has always come in handy.
