Well if you don’t learn something every day.

Mom used the word frequently, but given her grandparent’s prevalent Scottish bent, I always assumed that it was one of the many Scottish words that accompanied her from childhood.

That assumption was all the more plausible in that I’d never heard anyone else use it, other than Mom. From years of context clues, I simply assumed that the word “dingus” was an esoteric term referring to some little mechanical contraption, the use for which is all but lost to time.

Then I wised up. In a moment of unexpected vigor, I pounced into action, seized a dictionary and looked up the word dingus.

Lo and behold, there it was ! DINGUS, a gadget, device or object whose name is unknown or forgotten.

Well, I’ll be dinged !

Apparently, there it had been, all of this time, since Funk & Wagnall endeavored to define the funky little word in the first place!

Oh, wait a minute. You, my dear reader, have known all the while what a dingus is, haven’t you ? And to think that you sat there this whole time and allowed me to dwell in ignorant bliss.

Don’t ever think that I’ll fall for that again!