Nonsense

Posted on by Robert Eck

Some readers believe that reading and writing a blog rises to the level of “nonsense.”  Really?  What part qualifies as nonsense, as even the most trivial subject addressed on blogs may shed new light on something unknown.   Let’s take a look at the widely popular field of nonsense — a popular subject these days.

Since I have written a post about “nothing,” (see my 11 Dec 2017 post) I feel qualified to write about “nonsense.“  Everyone, who knows a bit of English, understands what “nonsense” comprises, but may be unfamiliar with the wide range of terms that are available for one’s choosing.  Considering the rich compendium of nonsense meaning words, the subject of nonsense must be taken seriously.  Let’s look at some of the more interesting “nonsense” terms, defined in dictionary.com,  which may enrich your nonsense vocabulary.  

Nouns:

Balderdash —senseless talk or writing, nonsense.

Claptrap — absurd or nonsensical talk or ideas. 

Codswallop — nonsense (British slang)

Drivel — nonsense 

Flapdoodle — nonsense (American slang)

Folderol:  trivial or nonsensical fuss. 

Gibberish — unintelligible or meaningless speech or writing; nonsense.

Gobbledegook — language that is unintelligible by excessive use of abstruse technical terms.

Piffle — nonsense 

Poppycock — nonsense  

Taradiddle — nonsense (British slang)

Twaddle — Trivial or foolish speech or writing; nonsense.  

Tommyrot — nonsense; rubbish 

Verbs:

Babble: to talk rapidly and continuously in a foolish, excited or in-comprehensive way. 

Blather: to talk long-windingly without making very much sense. 

Blither:  to talk in a long-winded way with no real substance.same thing.

Chatter:  to talk rapidly or incessantly about trivial matters

Jabber:  to talk rapidly and excitingly but with little sense.

Palaver:  to talk unproductively and at length

Prate:  to talk foolishly or at tedious length about something

Prattle: to talk at length in a foolish or inconsequential way    

All the above words are aptly defined in an official dictionary, and used in modern parlance.

There you have it!  Nonsense at its best — a delightful collection of modern usage vocabulary words on your lips.  To be sure, more nonsense words exist, but I wished to avoid such “crapola” — American slang for nonsense.     

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