A sticky situation; a royal mess, a snafu, where you're between a rock and a hard place, in a pickle, up shit creek without a paddle. Specifically, a place or situation that is associated with hesitant, uncertain behaviour.
Also spelled "kankedort" and "kankerdort".
From "canke(re)d" (meaning "crabbed", from the astrological belief that the Sun stops or turns back in its course when it's in the constellation of Cancer the crab) + "ort" (from the Middle Dutch "oord/oort", "place, country, region")
(Spargo, John. “Chaucer's Kankedort (Troilus and Criseyde II, 1752).” Modern Language Notes, vol. 64, no. 4, 1949, pp. 264–266)
Also spelled "kankedort" and "kankerdort".
From "canke(re)d" (meaning "crabbed", from the astrological belief that the Sun stops or turns back in its course when it's in the constellation of Cancer the crab) + "ort" (from the Middle Dutch "oord/oort", "place, country, region")
(Spargo, John. “Chaucer's Kankedort (Troilus and Criseyde II, 1752).” Modern Language Notes, vol. 64, no. 4, 1949, pp. 264–266)
But now to yow, ye lovers that ben here,
Was Troilus nought in a cankedort?
(Tell me, lovers who've been there:
Troilus was up shit creek, wasn't he?)
- Geoffrey Chaucer, "Troilus and Criseyde"
"I just got a text that she missed her last period. What do I say?"
"Shit, man! You're in a cankedort."
"What? "
"It means you're in trouble."
"Oh, gee, thanks a lot, Captain Obvious!"
Was Troilus nought in a cankedort?
(Tell me, lovers who've been there:
Troilus was up shit creek, wasn't he?)
- Geoffrey Chaucer, "Troilus and Criseyde"
"I just got a text that she missed her last period. What do I say?"
"Shit, man! You're in a cankedort."
"What? "
"It means you're in trouble."
"Oh, gee, thanks a lot, Captain Obvious!"
by Seadog Driftwood September 20, 2017