Some readers believe that reading and writing a blog rises to the level of “nonsense.”  Really?  What part qualifies as nonsense, as even the most trivial subject addressed on blogs may shed new light on something unknown.   Let’s take a look at the widely popular field of nonsense — a popular subject these days.

Since I have written a post about “nothing,” (see my 11 Dec 2017 post) I feel qualified to write about “nonsense.“  Everyone, who knows a bit of English, understands what “nonsense” comprises, but may be unfamiliar with the wide range of terms that are available for one’s choosing.  Considering the rich compendium of nonsense meaning words, the subject of nonsense must be taken seriously.  Let’s look at some of the more interesting “nonsense” terms, defined in dictionary.com,  which may enrich your nonsense vocabulary.  

Nouns:

Balderdash —senseless talk or writing, nonsense.

Claptrap — absurd or nonsensical talk or ideas. 

Codswallop — nonsense (British slang)

Drivel — nonsense 

Flapdoodle — nonsense (American slang)

Folderol:  trivial or nonsensical fuss. 

Gibberish — unintelligible or meaningless speech or writing; nonsense.

Gobbledegook — language that is unintelligible by excessive use of abstruse technical terms.

Piffle — nonsense 

Poppycock — nonsense  

Taradiddle — nonsense (British slang)

Twaddle — Trivial or foolish speech or writing; nonsense.  

Tommyrot — nonsense; rubbish 

Verbs:

Babble: to talk rapidly and continuously in a foolish, excited or in-comprehensive way. 

Blather: to talk long-windingly without making very much sense. 

Blither:  to talk in a long-winded way with no real substance.same thing.

Chatter:  to talk rapidly or incessantly about trivial matters

Jabber:  to talk rapidly and excitingly but with little sense.

Palaver:  to talk unproductively and at length

Prate:  to talk foolishly or at tedious length about something

Prattle: to talk at length in a foolish or inconsequential way    

All the above words are aptly defined in an official dictionary, and used in modern parlance.

There you have it!  Nonsense at its best — a delightful collection of modern usage vocabulary words on your lips.  To be sure, more nonsense words exist, but I wished to avoid such “crapola” — American slang for nonsense.     

doppelgangerMy eleven year old grandson informed me that he had seen his “doppelgänger” at an amusement park.  After a suitable pause, and a bewildered look, I bit:  “What’s a doppelgänger?”  With a pleased smile, presumably for putting one over on the old man, he had the good manners to explain, avoiding a suggestion to look up the word in a dictionary, as I may have done to him:  “A doppelgänger is a person who looks just like you.”  What an interesting concept — and name!  A review of some dictionary definitions for the word doppelgänger confirms the concept:     

— “An apparition or double of a living person.”  (Dictionary.com)

— “A ghostly double of a living person; either of two people who physically resemble each other.  (The Free Dictionary by Farlex.)

— “A non-biologically related look-alike or double of a living person . . . often used in a more general sense, and in slang, to describe any person who physically resembles another person.”  (Wikipedia, Doppelgänger)

To round out the definitions, and to embed the word in our minds, let’s review some synonyms:  Alter ego, carbon copy, double, facsimile, look-alike, replica, spitting image. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.)

That does it!  the lengthly word stems from the German language, literally meaning  “double goer.”  Originally, doppelgänger carried a ghostly sense. (dictionary.com.)  According to German folklore, all living persons have a spiritual double, which are distinct from ghosts, adding an eerie aura to the word, doppelgänger.

Technological advances have begun utilizing facial recognition, by focusing on several facial characteristics; such as eye locations, nose type, cheek bones, chin and jaws. These features are captured in a face template, which is used to search against similar database templates to find a match.  As this technology becomes more prevalent, people indubitably will search facial recognition to find their doppelgängers.  Obviously, facial recognition biometrics will prevent a person from seeing themselves as someone they are not. After all, how many doppelgängers could claim Cary Grant or Paul Newman?

All in all, I do not recall ever seeing someone who closely resembled my persona, though I have received many opined comments that my looks or actions remind someone of someone else —  Perhaps close, but no doppelgänger.