Fashionable Words: Codswallop

[Sometimes words die out of fashion. But sometimes those words are good words, words with a certain appeal that can't be denied forever. Those words should be brought back into fashion, used frequently and used often. These are those words.]

Word:
Codswallop


Definition:  noun
Nonsense, drivel.


Origin:
This is one of those words in history that people start guessing at. No one really knows where it came from. If you feel like making up a history on your own, it might hold as much truth.

What a wallop!

The OED claims--hopes--suggests--that maybe the word originates from Hiram Codd, who loved patenting mineral water manufacturing techniques in the 1870s. Otherwise, the second half evolves from wallop, an old Northern French word that goes back nearly 800 years and is the origination for the modern word gallop. This evolved over the centuries from Old French to Middle English into our still-modern wallop.

Wallop has a variety of modern definitions though, but with regard to codswallop, the word probably originates from the early 20th century definition for an alcoholic beverage.

Wallop reached its peak in 1949 when George Orwell used the word in his acclaimed novel 1984, specifically in the sentence, "When I was a young man, mild beer--wallop we used to call it--was fourpence a pint." Well, if it's mild, you don't want to overspend.

Wallop has generally died off ever since. Thanks, Orwell.


Most obscure UrbanDictionary.com definitions of codswallop:
(verbatim)

1. Something that doesn't make sense and sounds like utter nonsense can be described as codswallop, also, in some places of devon, there are cults that use the walloping of a cod as a method of induction into their sect...

3.  Often said by Hagrid in Harry Potter movies and book. The actual definition is believed to be a sack tap done by a pissed off fish after it is caught.

[Ed. Note: I'm not sure what a 'sack tap' is.]


Used in a sentence:

1.  Don't give me that codswallop--you're just robbing Peter to pay Paul.


Why you should use codswallop in your daily life:

It blends the allure of northern Atlantic fish with the mild allusion to physical abuse.


Word Awesomeness Scale (1-to-5):

Two.

Fishy sounds don't sell.