codswallop

n. Chiefly British Slang
Nonsense; rubbish.

[Origin unknown.]

(KODZ-wol-uhp)

noun
Nonsense.

Etymology
Of unknown origin. According to a popular story, a fellow named Hiram Codd came up with the design of a soft-drink bottle with a marble in its neck to keep the fizz. Wallop was slang for beer and those who preferred alcoholic drinks dismissively referred to the soft-drink as Codd's Wallop. This story is unproven.

Usage
"Raising taxes is impossible politically? Poppycock and codswallop, says the Conference Board." — William Watson; The 0.2% Solution; National Post (Canada); Nov 11, 2003.

"Mr Norris's mouth cuts a grim strip across his face as he drips scorn on the commission's reasons for the decision, dismissing it as codswallop, as showing a `lack of commercial reality'." — Claire Trevett; Unsmiling Airline Chief Takes Defeat in His Stride; The New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand); Oct 24, 2003.

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Rubbish! Balderdash! Piffle! Tripe! Sir Ian McKellan employs one of the more colorful terms for nonsense — codswallop — in expressing his opinion of The Da Vinci Code's major thesis, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a child:

"Sir Ian, who plays the Earl Grey-loving grail expert Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code, said before the film's world premiere yesterday: 'While I was reading the book I believed it entirely. Clever Dan Brown twisted my mind convincingly. But when I put it down I thought, "What a load of ... [eloquent pause] potential codswallop."'"

Link: Fans out in force for Da Vinci premiere - but even kinder reviews are scathing

Posted May 22, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

slang, chiefly Brit.  nonsense, drivel, rubbish

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - vrøvl

Nederlands (Dutch)
flauwe kul

Français (French)
n. - (GB) bêtises (arg)

Deutsch (German)
n. - (Slang) Blödsinn

Ελληνική (Greek)
n., -
int. - (καθομ.) ανοησίες, κουραφέξαλα

Italiano (Italian)
scemenze

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tolice (f) (gír.)
int. - bobagem

Русский (Russian)
чепуха на постном масле

Español (Spanish)
n. - tonterías, paparruchas

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - smörja (sl.)
int. - skitsnack! (sl.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
胡言乱语, 废话

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 胡言亂語, 廢話

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 넌센스, 실없는 소리

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ナンセンス

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) هرا, أكاذيب (نداء) هراء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שטויות, חנטריש‬

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