stuff and nonsense
- idiom
- Informal
- Stuff and nonsense, wasn't it?
- stuff and nonsense," she said
Examples
-
Her daddy said it was stuff and nonsense, but I told Jeffrey the next time he came to call, Mar-gott will be down in a minute.
Fiction book (1998) -
"Stuff and nonsense," young Ross says.
Fiction book (1995) -
A lot of stuff and nonsense...
-
"Stuff and nonsense; nobody was much hurt.
Fiction book (2001) -
"Stuff and nonsense!" snapped the old man.
Fiction book (1994) -
It's deeply in error and steeped in stuff and nonsense.
Blog text (8) -
"Stuff and nonsense!" she says to warnings about dance studios ripping off old women.
Fiction book (1991) -
Oh, stuff and nonsense.
-
Some said that it was all stuff and nonsense, opium for the masses, a bait for fools, and the like; others treated it with more respect.
Fiction book (1993) -
She dismissed his claims as nothing but stuff and nonsense.
Synonyms
Words that are false or useless
Words or ideas that do not make sense
Talk or writing that is not true and not useful
Talk that is not true or is silly
Silly talk that has no meaning
Unimportant words in writing or speech
Silly talk that is not true
Talk that is not true and tries to trick people
Talk that is foolish and has little meaning
Silly talk that is not true
Silly talk about unimportant things
Silly talk or ideas that are not true
Talk that is silly and unimportant
A silly idea or story that is not true
Talk that is false and meant to fool or impress people
Silly or unimportant talk that wastes time
Things people say that are completely untrue or pointless
Words or ideas that are complete nonsense and worthless
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents 'stuff' (things/rubbish) and 'nonsense' (senseless talk) directly signal a dismissive meaning, and the coordinating 'and' simply reinforces the idea. The phrase is a straightforward emphatic collocation rather than a metaphorical idiom, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer it means 'rubbish' or 'senseless talk'.
Etymology
Stuff and nonsense may come from the image of a bag full of useless things, with stuff meaning things and nonsense meaning silly ideas. That picture helps you remember it means 'foolish or senseless talk'.