whangdoodle idea
- noun
- /ˈwæŋˌduːdəl aɪˈdiːə/
- Archaic
:
idea absurda
- She's always coming up with whangdoodle ideas that would never work in real life.
Examples
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The novel is full of whangdoodle ideas that spark the reader's imagination.
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That plan is just a whangdoodle idea!
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Whenever he starts talking about his whangdoodle ideas, the whole room bursts into laughter.
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I can't believe you proposed such a whangdoodle idea.
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The inventor's presentation was filled with whangdoodle ideas that amused everyone but seemed impractical.
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His friends often teased him for his whangdoodle ideas, which were creative but never feasible.
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During the brainstorming session, they came up with several whangdoodle ideas that made the meeting fun.
Synonyms
An idea that is strange and unlikely to work
A foolish idea that probably will not work
Ideas that are not true and make no sense
A strange, unrealistic idea that seems silly to most people
A silly idea that shows little thought
A very strange thought or plan that seems extreme
A small, unimportant idea that has no practical use
Antonyms
How Plausible
Surface Forms
Morphology
The headword 'whangdoodle' denotes something fanciful or imaginary, so combined with 'idea' the phrase straightforwardly means a fanciful/silly idea. This is a regular noun+noun compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings can infer the MWE's sense, making it transparent despite the rarity of 'whangdoodle'.
Etymology
Whangdoodle idea may come from old stories that spoke of a strange, made-up animal called a whangdoodle. Because that creature is playful and silly, the phrase now means 'a fanciful or silly idea'.