Grandma used the word “whatsome” a lot. I've never heard anyone else say it. I often wonder where it came from.

Curiously, the Oxford Dictionary defines it as an obsolete #MiddleEnglish word meaning “whatever” that hasn't been used in over 500 years.

“Whatsome” was Grandma's “whatchamacallit”. She could also say “and whatsome” in the sense of “and so on”.

Incidentally, Oxford recognises “whatsomever” as a surviving #dialect word.

#Linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #English #Etymology