Combining the letters f, d, and l is a great formula for creating funny words-witness folderol, fiddlesticks, fandangle, flamdoodle, flummadiddle, and fiddledeedee. To ascribe pedigreed origins to any of those silly syllables would be fiddle-faddle. Flapdoodle certainly can't claim high-flown ancestors. Like many of its nonsensical fellows listed above, it most likely originated as an alteration of some other absurd word (fadoodle is a candidate), but its exact origins are unknown.
The speech was a lot of flapdoodle about the economy.
a clear-eyed assessment of the problem minus the usual flapdoodle
Recent Examples on the WebPoppycock with an average flapdoodle reading of +10 million fiddle faddles.—Caity Weaver, New York Times, 23 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flapdoodle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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