Past tense of heckle; interrupted or harassed a speaker or performer with critical comments or questions.
From 'heckle' (to comb flax fibers), which came to mean 'to interrupt sharply,' evolving from Scottish usage in the 18th century.
The word's origin is wild—it started with fabric-making (heckling flax) and somehow became about interrupting people! Language takes the weirdest journeys.
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