[Dixielandjazz] Codswallop

[Anton Crouch]

Hello all

At the risk of being thought a member of the cognoscenti (heaven 
forbid), I must take issue with Eric's explanation of codswallop.

The "Codd's lemonade" story is widely accepted but has nothing to 
support it.

For example: Partridge's slang dictionary (current, 8th edition) does 
not mention Codd but gives the "testicular"explanation, with no citation 
for the "by 1930 generally" date. Also, if the Codd story is true, why 
did it take from the 1870s to the 1950s for the phrase to appear in 
print? I say 1950s becauseJB Priestley's /Three men in new suits/ (1945) 
has only "wollop", not "codswallop". "Wallop" and "wollop", as 
references to alcoholic drinks in general and beer in particular, date 
from c. 1930 - some time after Mr Codd and his lemonade were long gone.

I realise that there is often a significant time period between a word 
or phrase becoming common in speech and appearing in print and that 
Partridge's "by 1930" does not clash with the verified Galton and 
Simpson 1959 use in /Hancock's half hour/.

The latest (certainly not "last") word on the issue is the Oxford 
English Dictionary Online, viz

/*Etymology:*  Origin unknown./

/It is often suggested that this word is < the genitive of the name of 
/Hiram Codd/ (1838--87), British soft drinks manufacturer, who patented 
several designs for mineral water bottles in the 1870s + wallop n. 
<http://www.oed.com.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/view/Entry/225325#eid15275506> 
(see sense 4c 
<http://www.oed.com.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/view/Entry/225325#eid15275865> 
at that entry), and that it was originally used by beer drinkers as a 
derogatory term for soft drink. However, no evidence has been found for 
early use of the word in this sense, and derivation from the surname is 
not supported by early spellings.//
/

Sorry Bob, but you did ask :-)

All the best,
Anton
//