word salad
Definition
The meaning: Word salad refers to a jumble of words and phrases that appear meaningless or incoherent when put together, often due to a mental health condition or used metaphorically to describe overly complex or nonsensical speech.
La signification : Word salad désigne un discours confus et dépourvu de sens logique, dans lequel les mots sont assemblés de manière incohérente, parfois à cause d’un trouble mental ou, de manière figurée, pour critiquer un langage inutilement complexe ou abscons.
Here's an example of use: "His explanation sounded like word salad—lots of big words but no real meaning."
The phrase is often used in psychology, political commentary, and critiques of confusing or evasive communication.
Word Analysis
French equivalents »» Gloubi‐boulga »» Discours incohérent »» Verbiage incompréhensible »» Charabia »» Diarrhée verbale Ⓐ Ce qu’il a dit n’avait ni queue ni tête—un vraie gloubi‐boulga. Ⓑ Le politicien a répondu avec du charabia, une sorte de Diarrhée verbale. English equivalents »» Gibberish »» Babble »» Rambling speech »» Verbal nonsense »» Verbal diarrhoea Ⓐ The press conference turned into a stream of word salad with no real answers. Ⓑ His tweets are full of verbal diarrhoea — buzzwords with zero substance.
Dialogue
Sasha: "Did you understand what the CEO was saying in that memo?" Ben: "Not a word. It was just corporate word salad — looked smart but meant zilch."
Etymology
Origin: The term word salad was first used in psychiatry to describe a symptom of mental illnesses like schizophrenia, where a person’s speech becomes unintelligible due to disordered thinking.
Modern Usage: It has since evolved to describe any confusing or nonsensical language, particularly in political, academic, or business contexts where clarity is lacking.
Connotation: Usually negative — suggests the speaker is either confused, evasive, or trying to sound clever without being meaningful.
Grammar Note: Used as a noun: “That speech was pure word salad.” “He talks in word salad when he’s nervous.”
Audience
Word salad appears in psychology, media commentary, business communication, and satire. It is widely understood in both clinical and informal contexts.
When to use: Use it to describe speech or writing that lacks clarity, coherence, or logical flow — especially when it seems intentionally confusing or evasive. For example: “The consultant gave us five minutes of word salad instead of a clear plan.”
Dictionary Meaning
The Free Dictionary defines it as incoherent speech consisting of both real and imaginary words, lacking comprehensive meaning, and occurring in schizophrenic states or other pathological conditions."
Here's an example of use: "The candidate’s response was pure word salad, overflowing with jargon, buzzwords, and vague phrases that sounded impressive at first glance but ultimately conveyed no meaningful information."
News Snippet
"Over the past three years, we’ve got used to a whole buffet table’s worth of word salad from Donald Trump — misspelt words, bewitched grammar, capitalisation, and syntax, mysterious or portmanteau word choices, random punctuation, and sentence fragments that go everywhere but to the usual usage conventions of subject, verb, object. We’ve been exposed to wild, over-extravagant self-praise and incessant repetition, as well as a kind of arrogance that has bordered on parody."
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For a fun and engaging exploration of our word of the day, watch the following…Obama mocks Trump over 'word salad'
What is a word salad?
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Common Idioms & Expressions Related to "Word Salad"
Talk in circles
To speak in a confusing or indirect way without arriving at a clear point.
Example: "He just talked in circles and never answered the question directly."
Jumble of words
A chaotic mix of words that lacks clear meaning or structure.
Example: "Her explanation was just a jumble of words—nobody understood a thing."
Lose the plot
To become confused or incoherent while speaking or explaining something.
Example: "He started off strong but lost the plot halfway through his presentation."
Verbal diarrhoea
Talking too much in a disorganised or meaningless way.
Example: "It wasn’t a speech — it was verbal diarrhoea. None of it made sense."
Blabber on
To speak continuously and often meaninglessly or without direction.
Example: "He blabbered on for ten minutes and still didn’t answer the question."
Not make head or tail of it
To be unable to understand something at all due to its confusing nature.
Example: "I couldn’t make head or tail of his message—it was total word salad."
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