codswallop
a statement which is ridiculous or complete nonsense
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Roget’s Thesaurus gives us a range of adjectives to describe lies: downright lies, shameless lies, monstrous lies, outright lies, filthy lies, barefaced lies, shocking lies, dirty lies, big lies; and in desperation, we can draw from the vocabulary of absurdity: CODSWALLOP, bullshit, balderdash.
The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast
Did you
know?
codswallop
noun (Brit.)
- nonsense
---
ORIGIN
According to "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" there was once a gentleman by the name of Hiram Codd who patented a bottle for fizzy drinks. Wallop was a slang term for beer, and Codd's wallop came to be used by beer drinkers as a negative term for weak or gassy beer, or for soft drinks.
---
SYNONYMS
What words can you use when you feel that someone is talking complete and utter nonsense? English has a rich collection. All these are to be found in the literature and are still used by the older generation:
codswallop (Brit.), poppycock, balderdash, bosh, hogwash, humbug, baloney, drivel, tommyrot, tripe,...
and more current and more direct:
nonsense, bull, bullshit (abbrev. BS), crap, bollocks (brit. vulgar)
We fear we'll be using these words more and more frequently in the coming months.
---
Thanks to Florian for suggesting today's evocative word
noun (Brit.)
- nonsense
---
ORIGIN
According to "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" there was once a gentleman by the name of Hiram Codd who patented a bottle for fizzy drinks. Wallop was a slang term for beer, and Codd's wallop came to be used by beer drinkers as a negative term for weak or gassy beer, or for soft drinks.
---
SYNONYMS
What words can you use when you feel that someone is talking complete and utter nonsense? English has a rich collection. All these are to be found in the literature and are still used by the older generation:
codswallop (Brit.), poppycock, balderdash, bosh, hogwash, humbug, baloney, drivel, tommyrot, tripe,...
and more current and more direct:
nonsense, bull, bullshit (abbrev. BS), crap, bollocks (brit. vulgar)
We fear we'll be using these words more and more frequently in the coming months.
---
Thanks to Florian for suggesting today's evocative word
