Meanings
alternative barla fummyll · alternative barla-fumble · alternative barlafummil · alternative barlafumle
- ScotlandobsoleteA cry for peace or truce in children's games.
Quhile he cryed barlafummil, I am slane.
c. 1500, Christis Kirk on the Green2 more examples
To fight, lest ye, when canons rumble, / With shame for fear, cry barlafumble.
1868, James Maidment, A Book of Scotish Pasquils. 1568-1715, page 140Greittans, lookansque grivatè, Barlafumle clamat[…]
1913 [c. 1648], William Drummond, The Poetical Works of William Drummon of Hawthornden, volume 2, Polemo-Middinia inter Vitarvam et Nebernam, page 164 - ScotlandobsoleteA fall; the act of accidentally losing one's balance.
When Coach-men drinks & Horses stumble, / It's hard to miss a Barla-fumble.
1687, Samuel Colvil, Mock Poem or Whiggs supplication, Jo. Reid for Alexander Ogston
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Uncertain. For the first element, compare barley, which bears a similar meaning as an interjection. The second element may be from French parlez, foi mêlez (“let us have a truce and blend our faith”). First attested in 1568.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
barlafumble. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barlafumble
“barlafumble.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barlafumble. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barlafumble,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barlafumble.
Source: barlafumble on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.