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Etymology Journal · P

Poppycock!

Meaning

A polite and slightly old-fashioned way to call someone's statement complete nonsense. It is a classic way to express disbelief without using actual profanity.

Playful, curmudgeonly

Used in a sentence

  • You think this little diet pill will make me lose ten pounds in an hour? Poppycock!
  • He started talking about ghosts in the attic and I told him that was pure poppycock.
  • Don't give me that poppycock about the dog eating your report.

The backstory

It comes from the Dutch word pappekak, which literally translates to soft dung. It migrated into English slang in the mid-19th century as a way to sound sophisticated while dismissing an argument.

Heard in

Nationwide

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