"Codswallop," - what are the origins of this word?

Question

I have used this word my whole life, just curious about its origins. Is it a merger of "cod" and "wallop"?

You don't need to tell me it's British slang. I am British and have known this word forever, I was asking about its origins.

Answer 1

It is definitely to do with mens bollocks or balls as in
codpiece, because a common form of expression of the same era bullshit and of course the eponymous bollocks themselves were derogatory ripostes for "you're talking
a load of old rubbish old chap."
The posters on here mentioning the 60's are way out as it was in use during the 1st war and probably long before that!

Answer 2

Codswallop didn't appear until the mid 20th century, after Codd's invention.

More likely is wallop, British slang for "beer," and Cod is a little-used slang word meaning 'to hoax or take a rise out of', known since at least 1873. It was used in much the same way we now use the verb 'to kid'.

Answer 3

Origin unknown, but here are some options:

Anglo-Saxon

The first etymology claims that the word derives from cods, an Anglo-Saxon term for testicles, combined with another word of Anglo-Saxon origin, wallop, meaning to scold or chastise (note that this wallop is not the same as the word wallop, meaning "hit"). It could be observed that if cod is the same as "testicles" and wallop is the same as "hit," codswallop could be very similar to the American colloquial ball-busting, which means "to make fun of" or "take the piss" in British colloquial.

Critics have argued that it is the "punch" meaning of the term wallop that applies, not the older "scold" variant.

Brewing terminology

The second and more popular etymology places the word's origins in the brewing industry. In 1876, British soft drink maker Hiram Codd designed and patented a bottle designed specifically for fizzy drinks. Though his Codd-neck bottle was a success in the fizzy drink industry, alcohol drinkers disparaged Codd's invention, often saying it was only good for "wallop" (a slang term for beer in the late-19th century). The term soon became "Codd's Wallop" and was eventually used for anything of low-quality or rubbish.

Critics argue that this term, despite its popularity, is not likely to be the origin, as the first recorded use of codswallop was not until around the 1960s, over ninety years after the term for beer fell out of use.

Answer 4

It seems to have been in use since the eighteenth century (long before Mr Codd and his safety bottle - but he was asking for trouble!). It was a euphemism for human excrement.

At the time, the most common form of sanitation in cities was the dry earth latrine. Basically a hole in the ground in which you did your business. The word may well have been imitative - in the same way as we have the word "plop" associated with the water closet.

When the latrine was full, men would come and dig it out, taking the contents away on what was known as the honey cart or the treacle wagon - because of the flies. It was then sold on to farmers as manure. Hence the usual form of the expression - a load of old codswallop.

Answer 5

In the old days, to sustain interest and betting, match organizers used to find different animals as challengers to their fighting cocks. Once they tried fish, cod for choice because of their plentiful supply and large size but the cod couldn't punch for toffee with those fins. So a punch from a fish was rubbish and the word codswallop was coined to describe it. Later it came to mean all rubbish.

Answer 6

The story goes that a gentleman by the name of Hiram Codd patented a bottle for fizzy drinks with a marble in the neck, which kept the bottle shut by pressure of the gas until it was pressed inwards. Wallop was a slang term for beer, and Codd's wallop came to be used by beer drinkers as a derogatory term for weak or gassy beer, or for soft drinks.

This theory has appeared in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, but there are problems with it. Codswallop is not recorded until the mid-20th century, rather a long time after Codd's invention, and there are no examples of the spelling Codd's wallop, which might be expected as an early form. These are not conclusive disproof of the theory - it is conceivable that the term circulated by word of mouth, like many slang terms, and that the connection with Codd's bottle had been forgotten by the time that the term was written down - but they do shed doubt on the tale.

Answer 7

One story is that Hiram Codd invented a new type of glass bottle. Mineral water was held in it and "wallop" was a term for fizzy ale.

Nice story, but there is no support from the OED, mencken, Flexner or partridge

Answer 8

I remember them discussing this on a children's show many years ago. It turned out that they couldn't really say what codswallop actually was on a kid's show. Ever since then I wondered if cod's wallop was actually Cod Sperm.

Answer 9

It's basically the moment a male Cod enters the never regions of the said female horses bottom.

The expression is used because it's so unusual to see a cod out of water attempting such a specific sexual act on another breed of cattle.

Answer 10

I read this somewhere once, but can't remember the origin. Anyway, one thing I can assure you, it was a load of codswallop anyway.