gobbledygook English · revision 1977

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡɒbəldɪˌɡuːk/, /ˈɡɑːbəldɪˌɡuːk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was coined in 1944 by the Texas politician Maury Maverick,^(Etymonline) in imitation of the gobbling of a turkey.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster derives it irregularly from the noun [[gobble]].^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Official, professional or pretentious verbiage or jargon (1944).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Maverick, then chairman of the Smaller War Plants Corporation, used it in a memo of 30 March 1944 banning “gobbledygook language”, and joked that anyone using words such as ''activation'' or ''implementation'' would be shot.^(Etymonline) Maverick was a grandson of the man whose name gave [[maverick]].^(Etymonline) The word has kept its sense of wordy, unintelligible jargon,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) and is also used for plain nonsense or garbled text.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1944 – pompous official jargon.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1952 – ''bafflegab'', a similar coinage.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Wordy, unclear and generally unintelligible jargon, especially of officials.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Nonsense; meaningless or garbled language.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gobbledegook]]

+ * [[gobble]]

+ * [[jargon]]

+ * [[bafflegab]]

+ * [[maverick]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}