huggermugger

An old editor of mine in Providence used to call these kinds of stories the huggermugger.

Inside the Southeast shootings story 2010

Children, grandparents and others lived huggermugger in the cramped rooms, so couples adjourned to the woods for privacy.

Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009

Children, grandparents and others lived huggermugger in the cramped rooms, so couples adjourned to the woods for privacy.

Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009

I remember her saying that, though her father was a very hard-worked doctor, and often had to take meals quickly and at odd times, he made it an absolute rule, no matter how busy he was, never to get into a rush, or be fussed, or do things in a huggermugger way.

The Adventure of Living Strachey, John St Loe 1922

The reply to the invitation, in the domain of applied ethics, is the revived and reinforced _Sklavenmoral_ that besets all of us of English speech -- the huggermugger morality of timorous, whining, unintelligent and unimaginative men -- envy turned into law, cowardice sanctified, stupidity made noble, Puritanism.

A Book of Prefaces 1918

Catherine, death comes to all, and yonder in the church-yard the poor dead lie together, huggermugger, and a man may not tell an archbishop from a rag-picker.

The Line of Love Dizain des Mariages James Branch Cabell 1918

As regards the name, I dare say it was something huggermugger in the mere sound -- something that I classed, for no particular reason, with the dark and ignorant sort of words, such as

Widdershins Oliver [pseud.] Onions 1917

But what shall he do when pietists and other such cows from Suabia25 use the "finger of God" to convert their miserably commonplace and huggermugger existence into a miracle of "grace," a "providence" and an "experience of salvation".

The Antichrist 1895

I remember her saying that, though her father was a very hard-worked doctor, and often had to take meals quickly and at odd times, he made it an absolute rule, no matter how busy he was, never to get into a rush, or be fussed, or do things in a huggermugger way.

The Adventure of Living : a Subjective Autobiography John St. Loe Strachey 1893

Here I was allowed to sit by the fire for a few minutes to dry myself, after which I went off in the dark and rain to arrange billets for the Bn. Of course this is not really my business, but everything was so huggermugger that I thought I should get matters along that way.

Letters of Lt.-Col. George Brenton Laurie (commanding 1st Battn. Royal Irish Rifles) Dated November 4th, 1914-March 11th, 1915 Florence [Editor] Vere-Laurie 1891