There are some people in this world, myself included, who at times feel the need to leave a gathering or situation in a hurry. Never mind the reasons. Once again, our great language, moulded and twisted from many others, has given us a word for this action: absquatulate.
Meaning: to leave in a hurry, especially without saying goodbye.
Origin: this may be the first word in the A Word on Vocabulary series to be attributed as American-English. The word’s origins can be traced to the 1830s, and is a conglomeration of abscond (meaning “flee”, “withdraw”, or “evade”), squat (i.e., the position), and perambulate (meaning “walk”)—the full, combined meaning being “get up and depart”.
Example: I often absquatulate from parties when they get too noisy.
As mentioned at the outset, there are some people who leave without saying goodbye. This may be a good or bad thing, depending on circumstances. So, whether you discovered a burglar and he fled out the window, or if the shy guy left the party early, or your girlfriend dumped you quickly and silently, you now have a word to use to describe the situation. Yay!
