This week’s theme
Words derived from Dutch

This week’s words
hogen-mogen
toenadering
poppycock
sooterkin
brabble

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(POP-ee-kok)

MEANING:

noun: Nonsense.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Dutch dialect pappekak (soft dung) or poppekak (doll’s excrement). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kakka-/kaka- (to defecate) which also gave us cacophony, cacography, and cucking stool. Earliest documented use: 1852.

USAGE:

“The idea that what we do in the ballot box does not affect our daily lives is pure poppycock.”
Brian Greenspun; Hearing from the Greatest Generation; McClatchy-Tribune Business News (Washington, DC); Apr 13, 2014.

See more usage examples of poppycock in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: