Poppycock

[Firiffic]

Can anyone tell me the origin of this "expletive"?

[kev100]

It's not an expletive it just means "to talk a lot of nonsense"

according to my on line dictionary it comes from here


[Dutch dialectal pappekak : pap, pap (from Middle Dutch pappe, perhaps from Latin pappa, food) + kak, dung (from kakken, to defecate, from Middle Dutch kacken, from Latin cacre. See kakka- in Indo-European Roots).]

[kev100]

I should just add where I'm from it doesnt count as an expletive unless its vulgar

[Gef]

Thanks kev. Growing up in the North East of England in the 50s and 60s our slang for going to the toilet was having a "cack". I always wondered why?

[Marsh]

http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-pop1.htm has a slightly different translation - Soft ####.  It was certainly vulgar in its day.

[Firiffic]

I used the description "expletive" in terms of the fact that it can indeed be replaced with a swear word or in syntax like a swear word.