Talking Nonsense Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fiddlesticks

The literal meaning of fiddlesticks are bows used to play a violin. The word was believed to be first used to mean absurdity or nonsense by Thomas Nashe in his play "Summer's Last Will and Testament" in the 17th century.

Answer: Horsefeathers

Originally used as a euphemism for horse manure, horsefeathers was first seen in print in "A TAD Lexicon" a dictionary of the sayings of cartoonist T. A. Dorgan, published in 1927. It became quite common after this time and could be seen as either one or two words. "Horse Feathers" was the title of a 1932 Marx Brothers movie.

Answer: Poppycock

Poppycock is another word for nonsense that appears to originate from words dealing with manure or excrement. It is believed to have derived from the Dutch word pappekak, literally meaning soft dung.

Answer: Tommyrot

There are a couple of possibilities for the origin of tommyrot. Some believe it is just a variation of tom-fool, meaning a simpleton. Whereas others believe that tommy is another word for the brown bread or the provisions carried by workmen each day. Tommyrot was poor quality food and this has extended to include poor quality goods or ideas, hence nonsense.

Answer: Balderdash

The origin of balderdash is not really known. It was used in the 1500s as a mixture of different liquors, and in the 1600s as a jumbled mix of words. Perhaps it is related to the Danish balder meaning noise.

Answer: Bulldust

Bulldust is the fine, red dust found in the Australian Outback. As a synonym for nonsense, it is a polite euphemism for an earthier term along the lines of horsefeathers and literally meaning bull manure.

Answer: Moonshine

Moonshine can have several meanings. Initially it was literally just the light from the moon. By the 15th century the term was also used figuratively to express a fiction, pretense or nonsense. In the 18th and 19th centuries moonshiner was a term for smuggler. Of course, we now think of moonshine as bootleg liquor.

Answer: Hogwash

In the 15th century hogwash was the slops fed to pigs, usually kitchen waste. From there is was used as a term for cheap liquor and then came to mean shoddy or poor writing.

Answer: Codswallop

Although there are a few references to wallop being a term for beer and Codd a gentleman who invented a way to seal bottles of soft drink and a possibility that cod is also an old term for hoax, there is no clear origin for codswallop. A load of codswallop was first seen in print in the mid-1900s.

Answer: Claptrap

Probably an old theatre term alluding to the tricks or devices used by actors to garner applause.