Etymology

From timbur ‎(“timber”) and maður ‎(“man”), a calque of the synonymous Danish term tømmermænd ‎(“a hangover”). The oldest example of the word timburmenn ‎(“a hangover”) in the Orðabók Háskólans is from an issue of Fjallkonan from 1891^[1] which goes as follows:

Margar tegundir kaffibrauðs ... fínasta Scotch Whisky, hið eina í bænum sem enginn fær af hina leiðu timbrmenn. ‎(“Many types of bakery products ... the finest Scotch Whiskey, the only one in town that that results not in the dreaded hangover.”)

The literal meaning of timburmaður ‎(“carpenter”), however, is far older.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʰɪmpʏrˌmɛnː/