12 real words that sound completely made up

English is a language that mugged other languages in dark alleys and went through their pockets for loose grammar. The result is a vocabulary so unhinged that some perfectly real words look like a toddler mashing a keyboard. Here are twelve we'd have bet money were fake. We would have lost that money.

Snollygoster, a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician. Yes, English had a dedicated word for "slippery politician" and we just… stopped using it. Bring it back.

Collywobbles, that anxious, rumbling, butterflies-gone-wrong feeling in your stomach. Sounds like a children's book villain. Is actually how your gut feels before a job interview.

Bumfuzzle, to confuse or fluster. "The instructions completely bumfuzzled me." Try saying it with a straight face. You can't.

Cattywampus, askew, crooked, diagonally out of place. Your picture frame is cattywampus. So is this entire list, honestly.

Gardyloo, the warning people shouted before hurling their chamber pots out the window. A word that is also a public safety announcement. History was disgusting.

Flibbertigibbet, a frivolous, flighty, excessively chatty person. Eleven letters, zero chill.

Taradiddle, a petty lie, or pretentious nonsense. Useful roughly forty times a day.

Widdershins, moving counterclockwise, or in the "wrong" direction. Sounds like a hobbit. Means you're stirring your tea like a rebel.

Absquatulate, to leave abruptly, to flee. "He absquatulated the moment the bill arrived." Elite behavior, elite word.

Mumpsimus, someone who stubbornly clings to a belief or habit even after being proven wrong. You know at least three. You might be one.

Gubbins, miscellaneous bits and bobs; odds and ends; also, an affectionate term for a foolish person. A word doing two completely unrelated jobs.

Borborygmus, the official medical term for the gurgling noise your stomach makes. Your body has been doing borborygmus this whole time and never told you its name.

The best part? Half the fun of words like these is watching someone insist they're fake. Which, conveniently, is an entire game.