Word
gobbledygook
Phoneticsgob·bledy·gook
US/ˌɡɑbəɫdiˈɡʊk/
UK/ɡˈɒbəldˌɪɡʊk/
Definition
n. Language that sounds important but makes no sense — usually because someone used too many long words or technical terms. You often find it in official documents that are trying to hide simple ideas behind complex sentences.
n. Unintelligible or meaningless language, especially jargon-heavy prose that obscures rather than communicates meaning; often applied to pretentious official or legal writing.
Examples
“This contract contains too much legal gobbledygook.”
“The lawyer translated the letter's gobbledygook into plain English so the tenants understood their rights.”
“Critics dismissed the minister's statement as bureaucratic gobbledygook designed to obscure the fact that funding would be cut by half.”
Examples
simple
“This contract contains too much legal gobbledygook.”
contextual
“The lawyer translated the letter's gobbledygook into plain English so the tenants understood their rights.”
complex
“Critics dismissed the minister's statement as bureaucratic gobbledygook designed to obscure the fact that funding would be cut by half.”
Etymology
The word was coined in a memo dated 30 March 1944 by Maury Maverick, a US Representative from Texas, who had banned what he termed "gobbledygook language" from his office. The formation imitates the sound of a turkey.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/gobbledygook