piffle

English

WOTD – 4 December 2009

Etymology

Unknown, 1847. Perhaps blend of piddle +‎ trifle, perhaps puff (“(onomatopoeia, puff of air)”) +‎ -le (“diminutive”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪf.əl/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfəl

Noun

piffle (uncountable)

1. Nonsense, foolish talk.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonsense

   • 2008 November 27, “Walking: More than gadding about”, in The Economist‎:

     The wafflier the piffle, the more sharply Mr Nicholson wields his skewer.

   • 2022 May 31, James Vincent, “Boris Johnson’s move to bring back imperial units is pure piffle – and simply unfathomable”, in The Guardian‎:

     The move is obviously pure piffle: a dumbshow designed to placate (or at least entertain) the conservative base while distracting and antagonising rivals.

Translations

nonsense, foolish talk

Bulgarian: глупости (bg) f pl (gluposti) Czech: nesmysly m pl, kecy m pl, žvásty m pl Finnish: höpinä, höpötys (fi) French: babil (fr), logorrhée (fr), diarrhée verbale (fr), déconnage (fr), bafouillage (fr), jargon (fr), baragouin (fr) German: Unsinn (de) m, Blödsinn (de) m, Quatsch (de) m Italian: scemenze f, sciocchezze (it), stupidaggini (it) Portuguese: conversa fútil f Russian: чепуха́ (ru) f (čepuxá), болтовня́ (ru) f (boltovnjá), вздор (ru) m (vzdor) Spanish: parloteo (es), chapurreo (es), chamullo (es), cháchara (es), jerga (es), jerigonza Welsh: malu awyr

Verb

piffle (third-person singular simple present piffles, present participle piffling, simple past and past participle piffled)

1. To act or speak in a futile, ineffective, or nonsensical manner.
2. To waste, to fritter away.
3. (dated) To be squeamish or delicate.

Synonyms

• (act or speak in a futile manner): trifle, twaddle

Translations

to act or speak in a futile, ineffective, or nonsensical manner

Bulgarian: говоря глупости (govorja gluposti) Czech: plácat impf, žvanit (cs) impf, kecat (cs) impf Finnish: hölmöillä (fi), höperehtiä French: babiller (fr), vaticiner (fr), déconner (fr), péter les plombs (fr), baragouiner (fr), jargonner (fr) German: quatschen (de), plappern (de), quasseln (de), schwatzen (de) Italian: cicalare (it), chiacchierare (it) Polish: mówić bzdury, zachowywać się głupio Russian: нести́ чушь (ru) (nestí čušʹ), болта́ть вздор (boltátʹ vzdor) Spanish: parlotear (es), chamullar (es), chacharear (es), chapurrar (es), chapurrear (es), farfullar (es)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “piffle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.