SC - Cool term!

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Angus wrote:
>  >>The proper spelling is codswallop.
>
>I'm almost afraid to ask....but as a person with another language 
>other than english as my native one, what's the origin of this word 
>?  Couldn't find it any dictionary/idiomatic (idiomacy?) book in my 
>bookshelf.

According to The American Heritage Dictionary, on line at
http://www.bartleby.com/61/31/C0453100.html

NOUN : Chiefly British Slang Nonsense; rubbish.
ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth 
Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin

I also found it spelled "cod's wallop"

Another on-line source specifies that it has a 20th century origin, 
and gave no examples prior to 1963. (unfortunately i lost the URL)

'Course, if you're from a country that eats (or ate) lots of cod, i 
suppose this could be what's left after you remove the edible parts...

There's an apparently popular folk etymology. One website put it succinctly:
http://www.lovatts.com.au/WEB_section/trivia/Triv_where_19.htm

- ---------------------
In 1872, Hiram C Codd went into business selling lemonade in green 
glass bottles with marble stoppers. 'Wallop' was a nineteenth century 
slang term used for beer and Codds wallop is said to have become a 
disparaging term amongst beer drinkers for mineral waters and weak 
drinks, such as Codd's lemonade. These days the application of the 
word has spread to refer to anything of no value.
- ---------------------

I also find it mentioned on the web as somehow peculiarly Aussie or 
Kiwi (New Zealand), and noticed that a German company manufactures a 
game with this name (!!).

Anahita