gobbledygook

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gobbledygook

Alternative forms

gobbledegook; gobblygook, garbley gook, gobbly-gook

Etymology

First attested in a memo by US Representative (Texas) Maury Maverick dated March 30, 1944, banning "gobbledygook language". Apparently coined in imitation of the sounds made by a turkey.

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)

Noun

gobbledygook (usually uncountable, plural gobbledygooks)

(informal) Nonsense; meaningless or encrypted language.
(informal) Something written in an overly complex, incoherent, or incomprehensible manner.

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:nonsense

Derived terms

gobbledygooker

Translations

nonsense; meaningless or encrypted language

Chinese:
Mandarin: 天書 / 天书 (zh) (tiānshū)
Czech: hatmatilka (cs) f
Danish: bavl n, kaudervælsk (da) n, sludder n, vrøvl n
Dutch: koeterwaals (nl) n
Esperanto: galimatio
Finnish: liirumlaarum (fi), diibadaaba (fi), hölynpöly (fi)
French: charabia (fr) m, gloubi-boulga (fr) m
German: Geschwafel (de) n, Kauderwelsch (de) n, Gibberisch n, Gromolo n
Hungarian: halandzsa (hu), maszlag (hu), blabla (hu), hadova (hu), hablaty (hu)
Italian: fesserie f pl, sciocchezze (it) f pl, supercazzola (it), idiozie (it) f pl
Japanese: 珍紛漢紛 (chinpunkanpun)
Maori: reo kihi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tullprat m, vrøvl (no) n

Nynorsk: kaudervelsk m, galimatias n
Polish: bełkot (pl) m
Portuguese: algaravia (pt) f
Russian: галиматья́ (ru) f (galimatʹjá)
Serbo-Croatian: galimatijas (sh) m, lupetanje (sh) n
Swedish: gallimatias (sv), rappakalja (sv), dravel (sv), struntprat (sv), goja (sv), strunt (sv)

something written or said in an overly complex, incoherent, or incomprehensible manner

Finnish: kapulakieli (fi)
French: galimatias (fr) m
German: Fachchinesisch (de) n, geschwollenes Zeug n (not idiomatic), aufgeblasenes Gesülze n (not idiomatic)
Hungarian: bikkfanyelv (hu)
Italian: burocratese (it)
Maori: reo kihi
Swedish: fikonspråk (sv), högtravande kanslistil