codswallop

The word codswallop, primarily a British English term meaning "nonsense", is of uncertain origin; there are two main schools of thought.

Possible origins

Anglo-Saxon

The first etymology claims that the word derives from cods, an Anglo-Saxon term for testicles, combined with another word of Anglo-Saxon origin, wallop, meaning to scold or chastise (note that this wallop is not the same as the word wallop, meaning "hit"). It could be observed that if cod is the same as "testicles" and wallop is the same as "hit," codswallop could be very similar to the American colloquial ball-busting, which means "to make fun of" or "take the piss" in British colloquial.

Critics have argued that it is the "punch" meaning of the term wallop that applies, not the older "scold" variant.

Brewing terminology

The second and more popular etymology places the word's origins in the brewing industry. In 1876, British soft drink maker Hiram Codd designed and patented a bottle designed specifically for fizzy drinks. Though his Codd-neck bottle was a success in the fizzy drink industry, alcohol drinkers disparaged Codd's invention, often saying it was only good for "wallop" (a slang term for beer in the late-19th century). The term soon became "Codd's Wallop" and was eventually used for anything of low-quality or rubbish. But this theory sounds like a load of old codswallop to me.

Critics argue that this term, despite its popularity, is not likely to be the origin, as the first recorded use of codswallop was not until around the 1960s, over ninety years after the term for beer fell out of use.

As the BBC series Balderdash & Piffle describes, the term appears in a 1959 episode of Hancock's Half Hour.

Popular Culture References

Harry Potter: "Codswallop" is favorite term used by Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies IMDB: Quotes

External links

• Weird Words:Codswallop
• What is the origin of the word 'codswallop'?
• Everything2: Codswallop

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