fuddle-duddle
American
[fuhd-l-duhd-l]
/ ˈfʌd lˈdʌd l /
verb (used without object)
Canadian.
fuddle-duddled,
fuddle-duddling
Etymology
Origin of fuddle-duddle
First recorded in 1970–75; used by Pierre Trudeau ( def. ) in his defense against accusations of muttering obscenities in Parliament by claiming that he had actually muttered a harmless phrase that possibly was fuddle-duddle; apparently extension of fuddle, after fuddy-duddy, though sense is unaccounted for
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.