chunder

Definition

Vomit.

Etymology

Unknown and debated origin. Possibly a shortening of Chunder Loo, itself a presumed rhyming slang for spew (said to be derived from the cartoon character “Chunder Loo of Akim Foo”, drawn by Norman Lindsay for a series of boot-polish advertisements in the early 1900s), but the rhyming slang usage is not actually recorded. Alternatively, possibly from the nautical phrase "*Watch under!" ("Look out below!"), used to warn people on lower decks that someone above was vomiting over the side of the ship, though this is likewise unsubstantiated and may simply be due to folk etymology. Also possibly from tunder, a dialectal pronunciation of thunder; or borrowed from Scots *junder, junner, chunner (“to bump, knock against", also "to break or spill the contents of”), a frequentative form of jund, chund, jundie (“to jog, jostle, annoy, upset”). First attested in c. 1950.

Example Sentences

• "I had puke streamers hanging from both nostrils; it wasn′t as watery as my chunder usually is (from drinking)."
• "I would guess it points up the difference between the involuntary chunder where you cannot choose the time place or direction, and the self-induced chunder which facilitates further consumption of alcohol after your theoretical limit is reached."