Fuddle duddle is a euphemistic substitution for "****" or "**** off", the most famous use of which was by Pierre Trudeau, during his tenure as Prime Minister of Canada.
In February 1971, a minor scandal arose when opposition MPs accused Trudeau of having mouthed, "**** off," at them in the House of Commons. When pressed by television reporters on the matter, Trudeau denied having mouthed "**** off" (much less actually spoken it, or anything at all) at the times in question, but freely admitted having moved his lips; and he answered the question, "What were you thinking, when you moved your lips?" by rhetorically asking, "What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say 'fuddle duddle' or something like that?" Trudeau likely took "fuddle duddle" from the official Hansard transcript of his words for that parliamentary session. Seemingly the Hansard reporter either read Trudeau's lip-movements differently than the accusing MPs or read them likewise but chose to write down the now-notorious words in their stead.
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ehBeth
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Fri 18 Jan, 2008 06:28 pm
cream puff
(tim horton's had a fuddle duddle eclair after the trudeau event)
)
