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Rhubarb rhubarb
Definitions
- 1 Background noise of simultaneous conversations, none of which is decipherable since the actors are repeating the word rhubarb or other words with similar attributes. British
"Those glottals glugged like poured pop, each /rebarbative syllable, remembrancer, raise /‘mob' rhubarb-rhubarb to a tribune's speech /crossing the crackle as the hayracks blaze..."
- 2 Speech which is undecipherable to the listener because it is in a language he or she does not understand; mumbo jumbo. British, derogatory
"Human beings and human speech are historical inventions as well: our actual experience for long enough was of ‘ourselves', the local tribes of people, dogs and horses, and of the ‘others', theria (wild beasts) and barbaroi (who make noises that only vaguely sound like speech, as "rhubarb, rhubarb")."
- 3 Blah blah; etc, etc. British
"Not allowed to blah blah blah rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb. Just what I don't need when I'm feeling kind of seedy."
Etymology
Chosen as a word for producing indistinct background noise because it contains no very sharp or recognizable phonemes: see rhubarb (“noise”).
See also for "rhubarb rhubarb"
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