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I was talking to someone and used the sentence:

He doesn't have the weatherall to go sky-diving.

What I meant was that he doesn't have the courage, or the “cojones”, but I'm not sure what word was trying to come out of my mouth. I feel like I'm going crazy and a similar sounding/meaning word doesn't even exist at this point.

Possibly (but unlikely) it might be a part of a regional dialect (I'm from rural Australia – we just love messing up English), or a bastardization of “weather” (the verb obviously)?

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  • Weatherall sounds a bit more like someone who can take anything. Someone who can "weather all" as in "weather the storm".
    – mathreadler
    Commented Nov 5, 2018 at 10:18

2 Answers 2

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Wherewithal:

Collins English Dictionary:

    necessary funds, resources, or equipment (for something or to do something)
    these people lack the wherewithal for a decent existence

ODO:

    The money or other means needed for a particular purpose.
    ‘they lacked the wherewithal to pay’

American Heritage Dictionary:

    The necessary means, especially financial means:   didn’t have the wherewithal to survive an economic downturn.

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  • 2
    Oh my God, thanks so much! I was a little off the mark with the definition so I'm glad it was close enough to be recognised or I would've gone mad. :)
    – user141562
    Commented Nov 1, 2018 at 7:09
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    Notwithstanding the formal definition, I often hear folks use "wherewithal" when they mean "general mental and emotional capabilities.," e.g., "the wherewithal to keep track of his car keys." That is, the OP may have understood the speaker's intent after all.
    – Tim Grant
    Commented Nov 1, 2018 at 15:11
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    @TimGrant If OP didn't understand the speaker's intent, he's definitely going mad, since he was the speaker. ;)
    – pacoverflow
    Commented Nov 1, 2018 at 19:25
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    Ahem. “He or she”.
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Commented Nov 1, 2018 at 19:29
  • 2
    Or they! Non-binary people exist too!
    – Monica Apologists Get Out
    Commented Nov 2, 2018 at 14:50
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The word you’re thinking of is wherewithal:

Definition: MEANS, RESOURCES

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wherewithal

It has a pretty transparent etymology: where + withal (which itself is from with + all). It’s not regional.

However, it doesn’t mean what you thought it meant, since in your sentence it would mean that he is too poor to go skydiving.

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    To my understanding of the word "resource" (1, 4), it isn't strictly financial or material. I'd argue that courage can be considered a resource.
    – Agi Hammerthief
    Commented Nov 1, 2018 at 14:26
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    In this context it would be equivalent to saying "He doesn't have it in him."
    – SchrodingersStat
    Commented Nov 1, 2018 at 15:19
  • I think it's a bit archaic but a polite way to say "materially poor".
    – ChrisW
    Commented Nov 2, 2018 at 15:16
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    Actually it does also have the meaning lack of courage
    – Neuromancer
    Commented Nov 3, 2018 at 21:16

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