gobbledygook

English

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.

Mr. Maury Maverick was, incidentally, the grandson of lawyer and politician Samuel Maverick, whose behaviour regarding his cattle inspired the term maverick ("offbeat").

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

gobbledygook (usually uncountable, plural gobbledygooks)

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:nonsense

Translations

Nonsense; meaningless or encrypted language.

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 天書 (zh) (tiānshū)

• Danish: kaudervælsk (da) 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
• Italian: supercazzola (it)

• Maori: reo kihi
• Norwegian: 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, aufgeblasenes Gesülze n
• Italian: burocratese (it)
• Maori: reo kihi
• Swedish: fikonspråk (sv), högtravande kanslistil