(Noun pl). I love this word. It has such an interesting origin, much like its synonym, Bollocks (UK). Both words share two meanings.
The first is ‘Nonsense’. So, someone making a less than believable claim might be met with “What a load of old cobblers!”. The second meaning is ‘Testicles’ as in “She kicked me right in the cobblers!” In both cases, the origin lies in Cockney Rhyming slang. Brits reading this will know that Cobbler (in the singular) refers to a shoemaker of old (and it so happens that my uncle was probably the last true Cobbler in the UK but that is another story). So, how do we get from shoemakers to testicles and nonsense?
Well, traditional shoemakers used a tool known as a ‘Cobbler’s Awl’ which was a pointy implement used to pierce leather. So, Cobblers’ Awls = Balls. As is traditional with Cockney Rhyming Slang, the actual rhyming bit is usually dropped so Cobblers’ Awls becomes just Cobblers.
Balls is used to mean either nonsense or testicles and so Cobblers (UK) also has the same two meanings (just the same as Bollocks (UK)).
Similar meaning: 1. Balls, testicles, bollocks, nuts, gonads. 2. Balls, nonsense, bollocks, drivel, poppycock etc.
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