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The mail carrier was juggling a passel of parcels.

In a way, that sentence is redundant. For "passel" is a shortening of "parcel." In fact, "passel" is one of a whole passel of English words formed by dropping the "r" from an existing word.

Today, we think of "parcel" as a package or a piece of something, such as land. But an older meaning of "parcel" is "a collection or assemblage of things," a definition we still use in phrases such as "a parcel of lies."

It was this meaning 19th-century Americans had in mind when they shortened "parcel" to "passel." This word was especially common on America's western frontier, as reflected in this passage from Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": "(They) just kept a-smiling and bobbing their heads like a passel of sapheads."

Other words formed by ditching "r" from a parent word include cuss, bust, bass, gash and ass.

"Cuss," a shortening of "curse," first appeared as a noun and verb in the U.S. during the early 1800s. Brits picked up the term quickly, as evident in this passage from an 1841 novel by William Thackeray: "Cuss me, I like to see a rogue."

"Bust," a shortening of "burst," first showed up in the journals of Lewis and Clark during the early 1800s. Since then, its meanings have expanded well beyond the meaning of "burst" and now include to smash (bust up), to break down (it's busted), to tame (bust a horse), to experience financial ruin (go bust) and to arrest (bust a dealer).

(The "bust" referring to a sculpture of the upper body and head or to a woman's bosom is derived from a different root: the Italian "busto," meaning "upper body.")

"Bass," meaning a type of fish, derives from the Old English "barse," and "gash" from the Old French "garse." And you may have guessed, "ass" is an American variant of the British term "arse."

Like these terms that shed "r," the words "rile" and "sass" were also formed by altering existing words. "Rile," derived from "roil" (to agitate, irritate), is one of many words based on the pirate-like pronunciation of "oi" as "eye," such as, "jine" for join, "pint" for point, "bile" for boil and "pyzen" for poison. In fact, in casual speech, "rile" has virtually replaced the more formal "roil," something that riles many linguistic purists.

Likewise, "sassy" is derived from the 18th-century American pronunciation of "saucy," meaning "impudent, impertinent." And, to this day, a passel of sassy kids can rile us and make us bust out with a cuss.

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

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