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I want to find out the meaning of an English word called redonkulous. Is it a phrase or something? I found this word in an animated movie called Bolt. I searched in "Google" and in "Google Translate" but didn't get any satisfactory answers. So, here I came. If anybody knows, please share it with me. I've added some screen shots of that movie, so that you guys can get some ideas about the conversation.

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J.R.
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Tulon
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1 Answers1

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It's a modification of the word ridiculous, using donk /dɑŋk/ to replace dic /dɪk/:

Absolutely ridiculous!

As you might expect, redonkulous sounds a bit silly. It's considered slang, and only certain people use the altered word. Although it means "ridiculous", it's non-standard and markedly informal.

I haven't seen the movie in question, but it looks like the bird is repeatedly using the word. My guess is that it's because rendonkulous sounds silly and is supposed to make the audience laugh.

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    I imagine the *donk/dic[k]* substitution arises from the fact that both words are slang terms for "penis". – FumbleFingers Jun 22 '14 at 11:23
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    @Tulon: Bearing in mind Bolt is a Disney movie, it's not expected the average viewer will make that connection, but I think it's highly likely the scriptwriters will have sniggered over it. It's not uncommon to find obscure "smutty" references in movies like that. I assume it's to give some parents a few extra laughs when they have to sit in at the cinema (or home theatre) watching with their kids. But most of them probably won't actually notice this particular one - if it was too obvious the scriptwriters would be told to remove it. – FumbleFingers Jun 22 '14 at 12:04
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    @FumbleFingers Yes, I understand. The word is not looking odd or as a slang in the conversation context of the movie. It's been used to make that seen a bit more funny. – Tulon Jun 22 '14 at 12:18
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    With big budget "family" movies like this (Bolt had estimated production costs of $150,000,000), they often go to considerable trouble to include elements that only register with some of the "target" audience, to broaden the potential market appeal. – FumbleFingers Jun 22 '14 at 12:45
  • @FumbleFingers: Along those lines, I've also heard recockulous. – Nate Eldredge Aug 31 '14 at 18:18
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    @FumbleFingers I've heard the word used many times (always informally and in a silly context,) but I've never heard it in any way associated with what you say. I think it's just meant to be silly (at least by the majority of its users,) not crude or vulgar. – reirab Nov 12 '14 at 06:22