Etymograph

English

tarradiddle

Tarradiddle may come from English diddle ‘to cheat’.

  1. English1500–presentdiddle1‘to cheat’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1866tarradiddle1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tarradiddle
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, Fyodor Dostoyevsky: “Of course, that's all taradiddle; he lies like a…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentdiddleWiktionary, English tarradiddle‘to cheat’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1866tarradiddleWiktionary, English tarradiddle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, Fyodor Dostoyevsky: “Of course, that's all taradiddle; he lies like a…”

The story

Perhaps derived from diddle (‘to cheat’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through English diddle ‘to cheat’

dildo

Today it means

noun A trivial lie, a fib.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tarradiddle”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / English diddle / tarradiddle

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