Whatnot

A very strange word.

Strange words are often more strange when said multiple times in quick succession.

Whatnot
Whatnot
Whatnot
Whatnot
Whatnot

We don't say it on it's own. Often it is said at the end of a sentence as a sort of et cetera. Like your sentence is pretty much done, but there are still a lot of little things laying around that the sentence needs to pick up before it's clean, and it just uses "whatnot" to accomplish the task. A little sentence cleaner upper.

Maybe it's more like a sentence junk drawer because it is a combination of the words "what" and "not". Which is strange, because those two words together imply that the sentence you are finishing is "not" exactly "what" it seems to be.


Here's the definition:

what·not /ˈʰwʌtˌnɒt, ˈʰwɒt-, ˈwʌt-, ˈwɒt-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hwuht-not, hwot-, wuht-, wot-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	a stand with shelves for bric-a-brac, books, etc.

2.	something or anything of the same or similar kind: sheets, pillowcases, towels, napkins, and whatnot.

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[Origin: 1530–40; from the phrase what not?]



Still makes no sense to me. Notice how it states that the word refers to "anything of the same or similar kind..." From the sound of it, it should refer to anything of a different kind, what with the not and all.


Which just adds more evidence to my notion that people of the 16th century just didn't have a clue. It may have been because they were often seen standing and pretending to read books with podiums coming out of their shoulders and funny hats with halos and whatnot.

I know. I should be sleeping, but I prefer thinking about nonsense. Sleeping just puts me to sleep.