Gibberish facts for kids
Gibberish is a fun word for speech that sounds like nonsense. It can be made up of sounds that aren't real words, fake words, or even special language (like jargon) that only a few people understand. Sometimes, gibberish is also called jibber-jabber or gobbledygook.
Jibber-jabber often means talking very fast, making it hard to understand what someone is saying.
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What Does "Gibberish" Mean?
The exact origin of the word gibberish isn't totally clear. It first appeared in English around the early 1500s. Many people think it's an onomatopoeia, which means the word sounds like what it describes. Think of words like "buzz" or "meow." Gibberish might sound like someone talking quickly and unclearly, similar to the words jabber (to talk fast) and gibber (to speak in a way that's hard to understand).
One interesting idea about where gibberish came from involves a famous 8th-century Muslim alchemist named Jābir ibn Hayyān. His name was later changed to Geber in Latin. Some thought that gibberish came from the confusing, technical language and secret codes that alchemists like Geber used. Their writings were full of jargon that was very hard for outsiders to understand. However, this idea was mostly rejected by dictionary editors after 1818.
Where Did "Gobbledygook" Come From?
The word gobbledygook was invented by Maury Maverick, a former politician from Texas, during World War II. He was in charge of a government group and sent a memo saying, "Be short and use plain English. ... Stay off gobbledygook language."
Maverick explained that gobbledygook meant "talk or writing which is long, pompous, vague, involved, usually with Latinized words." He said it was like a turkey, "always gobbledygobbling and strutting with ridiculous pomposity." He thought confusing language was as silly as a turkey's gobble!
How Is Gibberish Used?
Gobbledygook in Politics
The term "gobbledygook" has often been used in politics to describe confusing statements or explanations that don't make much sense. Here are a few examples:
- In 1971, during the Watergate scandal, an aide to President Richard Nixon described a situation as "a bunch of gobbledygook." But he added that "out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing: You can't trust the government; you can't believe what they say."
- President Ronald Reagan used the word in 1985 when talking about changes to tax laws. He said that most changes "made it more like Washington itself: Complicated, unfair, cluttered with gobbledygook and loopholes." He meant the laws were confusing and hard to understand for regular people.
- In 2017, John Roberts, a judge on the United States Supreme Court, called some complicated math used in a legal case "gobbledygook." He thought it was too confusing to be helpful.
- Michael Shanks, who used to lead a consumer group in Great Britain, said that professional "gobbledygook" might mean someone hasn't thought clearly or doesn't respect the people they're talking to. He believed that if a system can't communicate clearly, it's not good for a democracy.
Gibberish in Acting and Music
- In acting: Actors sometimes use gibberish as a fun exercise to practice improvising and being creative in theatre classes.
- In song: The Italian singer Adriano Celentano created a famous song called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" that sounds like gibberish. He did this on purpose to imitate how American English sounds to people who don't speak the language.
Other Words for Confusing Language
There are other terms similar to gibberish that describe language that's hard to understand:
- Officialese or bureaucratese are words for the special language used by government officials or authorities.
- Legalese is a similar idea, but it refers to the complex language used by lawyers and people involved with the law.
These types of language often have long sentences and special words (jargon or buzzwords) that make them difficult for people outside that field to understand. Sometimes, the people using officialese or legalese know it's confusing, but they think it's the right way to talk within their own group.
Bafflegab is another slang word that means confusing or unintelligible jargon.
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