flapdoodle

English

Alternative forms

• flamdoodle, flap-doodle, flap doodle, doodleflap, flipdoodle

Noun

flapdoodle (countable and uncountable, plural flapdoodles)

1. (uncountable) Nonsense.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonsense

   • 1834 [1832], Frederick Marryat, chapter 28, in Peter Simple‎^[1]:

     ‘The gentleman has eaten no small quantity of flapdoodle in his lifetime.’ ‘What’s that, O’Brien?’ replied I. ‘Why, Peter,’ rejoined he, ‘it’s the stuff they feed fools on.’

   • 1974, Bagpuss (TV series):

     Fiddlesticks and flapdoodle

   • 2006 October 7, Nicholas Lezard, “In bed with Tracey Emin”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Why, with my sternest critic's pencil in my hand, its lead as black as my heart, did I not write the word “flapdoodle” in the margin at that point?

   • 2007, The Times‎^[3]:

     It is not worth falling into dispute over such a flapdoodle of a vestimentary matter.

2. (countable) Thingamabob.
   • 1929, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, Vox Lycei 1928-1929, page 43:

     Then there was the noble but unseen army of perspiring heroes who wrestled with furniture and wings and other flapdoodles behind the curtain.

   • 1999, American Theatre - Volume 16, page 17:

     What other playwright would dare populate his plays with space aliens, dancing plates and spoons, vampires, girl huns, mystic furballs and bodacious flapdoodles?

   • 2008, Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society:

     Suppose you invent a flapdoodle. The flapdoodle can be any color, but your "preferred" flapdoodle is colored red.

3. (countable) A speaker or writer of nonsense.
   • 1893, Annie Besant, Annie Besant: An Autobiography, page 363:

     Here, So-and-so ”—to some one on whose countenance a faint gleam of comprehension was discernible—“ tell these flapdoodles of the ages what I mean.”

   • 1895, St. Martin's-le-grand - Volume 5, page 102:

     As for the others, no one cares a brass farthing what Olcott and his "flapdoodles" may do or say.

Translations

nonsense — see nonsense

Verb

flapdoodle (third-person singular simple present flapdoodles, present participle flapdoodling, simple past and past participle flapdoodled)

1. To con; to deceive with nonsense.
   • 1911, The Conservator - Volumes 22-24, page 28:

     Now, however the innocents may be flapdoodled by such jugglery the guilties remain undeceived.

   • 1988, British Homing World - Volume 61, page 35:

     Whilst acknowledging the accolade and honour, I wasn't happy and 'flapdoodled' to try and get out of it.

   • 2014, Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy:

     This Vok, or Cole, undoubtedly flapdoodled the witnesses into thinking he was skinny then flipped open his false hump and let the demoniacal pixie out to do its fell business.

See also

• fadoodle

Further reading

• Michael Quinion (1996–2024) “Flapdoodle”, in World Wide Words.