rhubarb
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹuːbɑːb/
ipa: /ˈɹuˌbɑɹb/
note: Ottawa Valley
ipa: [ˈɹuːbaɹb]
note: Ottawa Valley
ipa: [ɹɪu̯-]
Forms: form: rhubarbs
Etymology: Attributed to the circa 1852 practice by the theatre company of English actor Charles Kean (1811–1868) at the Princess’s Theatre, London, of actors saying the word rhubarb repetitively to mimic the sound of indistinct conversation, the word having been chosen because it does not have harsh-sounding consonants or clear vowels.
The baseball senses are said to have been coined by the American sports writer Garry Schumacher and popularized by the American baseball commentator Red Barber (1908–1992). Barber also claimed to have started using the word in the 1940s, based on the practice in “early radio dramas” (presumably in the US, circa 1930) of actors repetitively voicing rhubarb. However, unlike the UK usage, he felt the practice applied to muttering by an angry mob, and so applied the word to arguments on the baseball field where he could not distinguish the words.
Senses: examples: text: It [the film The Picnic] wasn't actually a silent film; there were sound effects, but the dialogue was a rhubarb-ish series of grunts and mutters.
ref: 2001, Ronnie Corbett, High Hopes: My Autobiography, London: Ebury Press, published 2016, →ISBN, page 253:
text: Back in the bedroom next door, the conversation is moving from subdued rhubarb to a cackle.
ref: 2025 May 31, Jo Ellison, “The beguiling charm of a bedtime phone call”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 20:
related: word: rhubarb rhubarb
word: rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb
glosses: General background noise caused by several simultaneous indecipherable conversations, which is created in films, stage plays, etc., by actors repeating the word rhubarb; hence, such noise in other settings.
examples: text: MADAME JOURDAIN: No, it’s all complete rhubarb. MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: Dara dara bastonnara! He begins to dance and chant. MADAME JOURDAIN: Don’t think that’s going to make things any clearer.
ref: 1992, Moliere, translated by Nick Dear, Le Bourgeous Gentilhomme: A New Version by Nick Dear, U.K: Bloomsbury Publishing, page 70:
text: On my second day in the market garden our group spent all day moving empty rhubarb boxes to one side of a courtyard and all afternoon moving them back again. ‘Makes a change from talking rhubarb in the House of Commons I expect,’ said one of my fellow labourers.
ref: 2005, Jonathan Aitken, “Difficult days at Stanford Hill”, in Porridge and Passion, U.K: Continuum International Publishing Group, page 97:
text: People’s minds really serve up a lobar of rhubarb with the inner dialogue they tell themselves.
ref: 2009, Michael-ji-ji Mouseman the III, “We the damned”, in Ratology: Way of the Un-damned, Australia: Ladder to the Moon Publications (T/a Vital Aqua), page 68:
text: Boris Johnson has dismissed new evidence that he ordered the controversial evacuation of dogs and cats from Afghanistan for Pen Farthing’s Nowzad charity as “total rhubarb”…The PM doubled down on Thursday when asked if he had helped to get animals out, telling reporters: “No, that is…this whole thing is total rhubarb”.
ref: 2022 January 28, Jon Stone, “‘Total rhubarb’: Boris Johnson again denies he ordered Afghan animal airlift as fresh emails emerge”, in Independent:
glosses: Nonsense; false utterance.
examples: text: Out in the bullpen, Chip Hilton and Soapy Smith had stopped throwing to watch the argument—what ballplayers call a "rhubarb."
ref: 1953, Clair Bee, “The Fireman Arrives”, in Fence Busters (Chip Hilton Sports Series; 11), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC; republished as Clair Bee, Randall K. Farley, Cynthia Bee Farley, Fence Busters, Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 1999, →ISBN:
text: Richie Ashburn slid into third, and Billy Cox, Dodger third baseman, made the tag, [Umpire Beans] Reardon yelled "safe" but raised his hand in the "out" sign. Naturally, a rhubarb.
ref: 1960, Joe Garagiola, “The Loners”, in Baseball Is a Funny Game:
glosses: An excited, angry exchange of words, especially at a sporting event.
examples: text: But damned if it don't seem like killin' him would stir up an even bigger political rhubarb. I mean, it ain't like nobody'd have to be told who did it.
ref: 1973, Matthew Braun, El Paso, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Paperbacks, published July 1999, →ISBN, page 142:
glosses: A brawl.