galimatias

[prettygoodword]

galimatias (gal-uh-MAY-shee-uhs, gal-uh-MAHT-ee-uhs) - n., nonsense, gobbledygook; a confused medley.


Note that despite the -s, this is a singular noun: indeed, the older form was galimatia. This is from French (first attested by Montaigne, ported to English in Urquhart’s 1653 translation of Rabelais) but whence is, to put it mildly, obscure -- there are many theories, enough that transcribing would turn this post into a galimatias of etymology, so never mind. (For the record, gobbledygook is surprisingly hard to spell before my first coffee.)

---L.

Comments

[mount-oregano.livejournal.com]

According to the Spanish Royal Academy's dictionary, the word "galimatías" in Spanish comes from the French, and that word in turn came from κατὰ Ματθαῖοv or "according to Matthew" for the geneology list at the beginning of that evangelical book in ancient Greek.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

That would be one of those many theories.