Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Gobbledegook. Gobbledegook describes speech which is not clear and a term coined around the 16th century when said to be imitative of the turkey. Gobbledegook from yesteryear is not readily seen for the terminology has become ingrained in the English language. Those featured may not be realised as having been created to describe something in an unusual way. The focus is on those words we are less likely to understand, the modern terms coined to be 'buzz words' and the so-called 'new speak' featured in offices across the country.
Balderdash – first seen in the 1590s the origin is officially said to be ‘unknown’. This early use was quite different in referring to ‘a jumbled mix of liquors’ and not until the 1670s was the modern meaning first seen.
Hogwash – first seen in the middle of the 15th century as two Middle English words hogges and wash. At the time it referred to slops fed to pigs, be it refuse from the kitchen or from a brewery. By 1712 this referred to ‘cheap alcoholic drink’ and fifty years later to ‘inferior writing’. At the time the term was coined, ‘hog’ referred to a castrated male, hence one reared for slaughter and encouraged to eat anything it could to fatten it up; while ‘wash’ was used here to refer more to that skimmed off, such as the cuttings from vegetables or the waste left over from brewing.
Poppycock – is seen as so very twee isn’t it? Almost has to be followed by some chinless wonder asking “anyone for tennis?” Yet the origin is anything but innocent. It comes from the Dutch dialect pappekak where pappe means ‘soft food’ and kak ‘dung’.
Tosh – as British slang it meant ‘rubbish, nonsense’ and there is no known earlier form and thus the origins are unknown. However, it could be a loan word for there is also an earlier Scottish word ‘tosh’ from 1776 and used to mean ‘neat, clean, trim’. We also find another English use dating from 1852 and slang used very much in the capital from 1852 to speak of, somewhat extraordinarily, ‘valuables collected from drains’.
Mullet – now nobody uses mullet-head any more, even though the Beastie Boys recorded Mullet Head – of which we all recall the wonderful lyric “Number one on the side and don’t touch the back; number six on the top and don’t cut it wack, Jack.” However the insult ‘mullet-head’ existed from 1866 (130 years before the haircut) and even nine years before the fish is first recorded (although doubtless the name was in use at least at the same time and probably before). Hence ‘mullet’ originally meant something or someone stupid.
If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.
