'Codswallop’ is a fine word that used to be
commoner in the British vernacular than it is today. Its derivation is a
mystery, the first known appearance in print being in a line from a 1959
episode of a TV sitcom. The writers claim, however, that it was already in
popular use and they didn’t coin it.
It means ‘rubbish’ in the sense of something that
is beneath the capacity of the average brain cell to take seriously. And here’s
a good example:
The media have, as expected and reported, been
milking the Olympic Games far beyond their inherent worth. Now that it’s all
over and the dust is finally settling, Yahoo News and Reuters have descended
from the ridiculous to the sheer nonsensical.
A ‘news report’ today points out that while the
USA officially topped the medals table with 46 golds, Britain and the British
Commonwealth combined won 48. This, says Yahoo, makes Queen Elizabeth the ‘Golden
Girl’ who beat Obama into second place.
Whatever the derivation of the word, if that isn’t
just the finest example of codswallop, I don’t know what is.
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