Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Nonsense; rubbish.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK, slang Senseless talk or writing;
nonsense .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun nonsensical talk or writing
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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EC, fess up – you copy your codswallop from a large book collection of Keynes-Samuelson cant, don’t you?
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As to what Her Ladyship had to say about the proms I can sum up thus: codswallop, which is code for ‘balderdash’.
Archive 2008-03-09 2008
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As to what Her Ladyship had to say about the proms I can sum up thus: codswallop, which is code for ‘balderdash’.
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One Hiram Codd did 'invent' a cold refreshing drink which it is claimed was called codswallop and since the Cockney slang for a glass of beer is a glass of wallop, maybe this is its etymological origin.
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009
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Boris Johnson today dismissed continuing concerns over the News of the World's use of phone hacking as "codswallop" that "looks like a politically motivated put-up job by the Labour party".
Boris Johnson dismisses concerns over News of the World phone hacking as 'codswallop' 2010
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I was going to use the same description, but was not sure on the spelling; I was leaning towards "codswallop" though.
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009
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In a 2008 book, Prof. MacKay dismisses what he calls the "codswallop" in the energy debate, such as government campaigns to get citizens to turn off their cellphone chargers.
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At his home in Edinburgh's Lauriston Place, Mr MacDonald dismissed the illegitimacy claims as "codswallop".
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On reflection whilst I stand by the thrust of that comment I would like to apologise for the intemperate use of words such as codswallop and and craven.
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I was watching TV tonight and someone said that the word 'codswallop' had soft drink origins.
unknown title 2008
arby commented on the word codswallop
NOUN: Chiefly British Slang Nonsense; rubbish.
ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown.
June 5, 2007
seanahan commented on the word codswallop
This is pretty much the same as poppycock.
June 6, 2007
arby commented on the word codswallop
True, but this one conjures up the nice mental imagery of whacking someone with a fish, whereas poppycock is an entirely different beast.
June 21, 2007
bilby commented on the word codswallop
snack commented on the list aubreys-brief-lives
cod's-head n. mid 16th-19th cent. a dupe, or fool; thus the fool's head, often the 'thickness' of the cod's-head, noting mid 17th cent use of cods meaning testicles, thus cod'shead or codshead, penis
June 8, 2016