A question for the Brits among us...

K

Komodo

Well-known member
Caroljeen said:
When you call something "drivel" or "twaddle" is it considered more derogatory than saying "nonsense"?
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I don't know if those words actually count as Britticisms. In the song "Trouble in Tahiti" by Leonard Bernstein (American), the singer describes the "terrible awful movie" she's just seen as "What drivel! What nonsense! What escapist technicolor twaddle!"

To the extent that there's a distinction among those words, I think "drivel" is sort of "nonsense, with an emphasis on incompetence of composition" and "twaddle" is sort of "nonsense, with the connotation of childishness."
 
C

Caroljeen

Well-known member
Komodo said:
I don't know if those words actually count as Britticisms. In the song "Trouble in Tahiti" by Leonard Bernstein (American), the singer describes the "terrible awful movie" she's just seen as "What drivel! What nonsense! What escapist technicolor twaddle!"
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Why do I feel more insulted when something I write is called drivel or twaddle instead of nonsense? The only ones that have called my posts drivel are Brits...so far.
 
K

Komodo

Well-known member
Caroljeen said:
Why do I feel more insulted when something I write is called drivel or twaddle instead of nonsense?
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I actually edited my post to add a sentence after you had responded, In addition to what I said, I think the general idea is that even an intelligent person will sometimes talk or write "nonsense" (e.g., just didn't get the logic right) but to talk or write "twaddle" or "drivel" requires a deeper kind of silliness or incompetence, maybe?
 
Temujin

Temujin

Well-known member
Caroljeen said:
Why do I feel more insulted when something I write is called drivel or twaddle instead of nonsense? The only ones that have called my posts drivel are Brits...so far.
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Can you link to a post of yours that's been called drivel? I'm surprised to hear that .

To echo @Komodo , I would describe something as nonsense, which I thought was nonsensical, but that the writer could or would normally write good sense. Drivel implies that the writer is capable of no better, while twaddle has an element of childishness. The biggest factor though is simply word choice in the general construction of the sentence and paragraph. Some words just read better in different contexts. We are lucky that English is so rich in synonyms and metaphor.
 
stiggy wiggy

stiggy wiggy

Well-known member
Temujin said:
Can you link to a post of yours that's been called drivel? I'm surprised to hear that .

To echo @Komodo , I would describe something as nonsense, which I thought was nonsensical, but that the writer could or would normally write good sense. Drivel implies that the writer is capable of no better, while twaddle has an element of childishness. The biggest factor though is simply word choice in the general construction of the sentence and paragraph. Some words just read better in different contexts. We are lucky that English is so rich in synonyms and metaphor.
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Malarkey! :)
 
C

Caroljeen

Well-known member
Temujin said:
Can you link to a post of yours that's been called drivel? I'm surprised to hear that .
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Nah, he knows who he is.
Temujin said:
To echo @Komodo , I would describe something as nonsense, which I thought was nonsensical, but that the writer could or would normally write good sense. Drivel implies that the writer is capable of no better, while twaddle has an element of childishness. The biggest factor though is simply word choice in the general construction of the sentence and paragraph. Some words just read better in different contexts. We are lucky that English is so rich in synonyms and metaphor.
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Thanks, I thought there might be other connotations/nuances.
 
Algor

Algor

Well-known member
Caroljeen said:
When you call something "drivel" or "twaddle" is it considered more derogatory than saying "nonsense"?
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Not a brit, but although twaddle I like, if I'm trying to be harsh I use "dribble": etymologically similar but a bit more evocative of the infantile, rather than the merely foolish.
 
stiggy wiggy

stiggy wiggy

Well-known member
Algor said:
Not a brit, but although twaddle I like, if I'm trying to be harsh I use "dribble": etymologically similar but a bit more evocative of the infantile, rather than the merely foolish.
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Personally, I'd be a fan of horse**** if there were any way I could do it with the voice of Slim Pickens.
 
C

Caroljeen

Well-known member
Algor said:
Not a brit, but although twaddle I like, if I'm trying to be harsh I use "dribble": etymologically similar but a bit more evocative of the infantile, rather than the merely foolish.
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"Dribble" creates a picture in the mind.
 
T

The Pixie

Well-known member
I would suggest twaddle is a bunch of wards that seem to have meaning but really do not, drivel is a bunch of words that do not even seem to have meaning and nonsense is when the meaning of the words does not make any kind of sense, but that may just be me (but I am a Brit).
 
Whatsisface

Whatsisface

Well-known member
Caroljeen said:
Why do I feel more insulted when something I write is called drivel or twaddle instead of nonsense? The only ones that have called my posts drivel are Brits...so far.
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You might actually be broadening the vocabulary of your fellow Americans with this thread.
 
C

Caroljeen

Well-known member
Algor said:
Not a brit, but although twaddle I like, if I'm trying to be harsh I use "dribble": etymologically similar but a bit more evocative of the infantile, rather than the merely foolish.
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I pegged you as a Canadian working in the US. But you're not a Brit.
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