argle-bargle
noun, verb
Forms argle-bargles argle-bargling argle-bargled
Synonyms
Etymology
First documented in English in 1822, from Scots (where first recorded in 1808), from earlier argle (“argue obstinately, wrangle”) used in English since 16th century, presumably from argue + -le (frequentative suffix), though possibly from Old Norse (Suio-Gothic) ierga – possibly influenced by haggle – plus rhyming reduplication, possibly from bargain, found in early variant aurgle-bargain (1720).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “argle-bargle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details