fumfer

English

Alternative forms

• phumpher, fumper

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish פֿאָנפֿען (fonfen, “to speak with a nasal twang, to mumble”) + -er (frequentative suffix). First attested in 1954. Compare fumf.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfəmfər/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfʌmfə/

Verb

fumfer (third-person singular simple present fumfers, present participle fumfering, simple past and past participle fumfered)

1. (informal, US) To speak awkwardly or evasively; to dither, waffle.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:mutter

   She fumfered around and refused to give a straight answer.

   • 1975, Harvey Jacobs, Summer on a Mountain of Spices, New York, N.Y.,  […]: Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 192:

     In school, Dr. Noah heard lectures on [Sigmund] Freud, [Carl] Jung and [Alfred] Adler. There wasn't much chance to try out their ideas in Monticello. Pragmatic medicine was practiced up there. To fumfer with the locals, any dreams, say what's in the mind, what do you see in the blots, would produce too many complications.

   • 1983, David Marlow, Winning Is Everything, New York, N.Y.: G P Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 108:

     "Well," she continued, searching for the right words, "you're young, you're attractive, you're . . . no threat, if you know what I mean." Ron looked Liz straight in the eye. "I-don't-know-what-you-mean." / "Well, you know . . ." Liz fumfered. "You and Talbot."

   • 1998, Lydia Adamson, A Cat on Stage Left: An Alice Nestleton Mystery, New York, N.Y.: Signet Books, →ISBN, page 56:

     It was not what I had expected. I began to fumfer. "Perhaps I'm just here to buy a cookbook on Afghan cuisine."

   • 2011 September 21, Erik Tarloff, “My Father Was a Communist”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-08-09:

     The interviewer began the dialogue by asking if my father would feel equal outrage had the blacklist targeted Nazis rather than Communists. Wrong-footed, Frank [Tarloff] fumfered some sort of response.

   • 2017 September 27, Daniel Gross, “Why Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn Are So Bad at Selling Trump's Tax Plan”, in Slate‎^[2], archived from the original on 2022-11-08:

     President [Donald] Trump's tax-reform rollout came stumbling out of the gate this week. And much of the blame belongs to the clumsy, hacky salesmanship of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Chairman Gary Cohn, who fumfered his way through an awkward White House press briefing.

   • 2017 February 10, Jordan Hoffman, “The seven most wonderfully ridiculous moments in Fifty Shades Darker”, in The Guardian‎^[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-28:

     Thanks to some storytelling gymnastics that would score straight 10s at the Olympics, Anastasia ends up as the head of the fiction division at an important publishing company. At her first staff meeting all the grey hairs are fumfering about declining numbers.

   • 2020 September 8, Priyanka Mattoo, “'I Hate It with Both My Eyes!'”, in The New York Times‎^[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-25:

     He tears through his chapter books, bursting into the room, bushy hair on end, to ask for definitions: Perplexed! Secretary! Brassiere! We give him most, and fumfer around others, especially when he gets into the newspaper.

   • 2022 April 29, Alon Pinkas, “Israel’s Ukraine Policy Isn't Only Immoral. It's Also Unwise”, in Haaretz‎^[5], archived from the original on 2022-12-23:

     Fumfering – a word we get from Yiddish – means to mumble, mutter, murmur, dither, waffle, be evasive, temporize and stall. Fumfering is also the right term to describe Israel’s immoral and imprudent policy on the Ukraine crisis and war.

2. (informal, US) To fiddle or fumble.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:feel around

   I fumfered with the USB stick, trying and failing to plug it in.

   • 1995, Marcia Rose, Like Mother, Like Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 236:

     There was a candle on the nightstand, she remembered. After a great deal of fumbling and fumfering around in the dark, she managed to get it lighted.

   • 2001, Robert M[orris] Sapolsky, A Primate's Memoir, New York, N.Y.,  […]: Scribner, →ISBN, page 64:

     For an excruciating half hour, Jeremiah starts the engine, fumfers with things in the cab, gets out to polish the hood ornament, shakes hands, waves good-byes.

   • 2006 May 15, Jon Fine, “Local TV's Clear Shot At The Net”, in Bloomberg Businessweek‎^[6], New York, N.Y.: Bloomberg L.P., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 April 2023:

     Take, for instance, the media executive who told me he got hooked on Lost via iTunes, tried to watch it on television one Wednesday night, realized he didn't know what network it was on, started fumfering around with TV listings, and then decided it was just easier stick to downloads.

   • 2014 August 27, Marissa Rothkopf Bates, “The Sparrow Rolling Bag Is Designed to Roll Through the TSA”, in Newsweek‎^[7], New York, N.Y.: Newsweek Publishing LLC, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-02-01:

     Or perhaps it's having to watch tens of thousands of passengers fumfer around in their bags, unload their electronics, plastic bags, shoes and water bottles.

   • 2015 August 5, Jason Fogelson, “2016 Kia Sorento Long-Term Update #2: Road Trip”, in Forbes‎^[8], New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-11-14:

     I'm still fumfering with the infotainment system in my Sorento.

See also

• beat around the bush
• circumlocute
• prevaricate
• temporize
• tergiversate

 

Further reading

• Category:English terms derived from Yiddish
• List of English words of Yiddish origin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia