Gibberish

For other uses, see Gibberish (disambiguation).
"Gobbledigook" redirects here. For the Sigur Rós song, see Gobbledigook (song).

Gibberish, also known as jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense: ranging across speech sounds that are not actual words,[1] pseudowords, language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsiders.[2]

"Gibberish" is also used as an imprecation to denigrate or tar ideas or opinions the user disagrees with or finds irksome, a rough equivalent of "nonsense", "folderol", "balderdash", or "claptrap". The implication is that the criticized expression or proposition lacks substance or congruence, as opposed to being a differing view.

The related word jibber-jabber refers to rapid talk that is difficult to understand.[3]

  1. ^ Robertson, J.P.S.; Shamsie, S.J. (1959). "A systematic examination of gibberish in a multilingual schizophrenic patient". Language and Speech. 2 (1). Sage: 1–8. doi:10.1177/002383095900200102. S2CID 142914934. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  2. ^ Laycock, D. (1972). "Towards a typology of ludlings, or play-languages". Linguistic Communications: Working Papers of the Linguistic Society of Australia. 6: 61–113.
  3. ^ Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A. (2010). "jibber-jabber". New Oxford American Dictionary. Oxford University Press USA. ISBN 978-0-19-539288-3.