Balderdash

"It is a pity that such a lovely expressive word meaning rubbish or nonsense should have an origin shrouded in mystery and conjecture. There is something immensely satisfying about saying balderdash in response to someone’s groundless opinions. One would expect such a word to appear somewhere in Shakespeare but alas, not so, although it does make its first appearance at around that time, 1596 according to the OED, when it referred to 'curd' or 'froth' and was connected to the brewing of ale. The OED states that its etymology is unknown. Thereafter, balderdash came to mean a jumbled mixture of milk and beer, beer and wine, or any unpleasant, unappetising mixture of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. By 1674, again according to the OED, its meaning was transferred a jumble of senseless words, twaddle, or nonsense, which is its meaning today. Some etymologists claim the word derives from the Welsh baldordus meaning idle chatter, while others point to the Dutch balderen meaning to roar or thunder, and other related words in various Scandinavian languages, but this is mostly balderdash. No one has yet come up with convincing proof of its etymology or how the word originated."