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rhubarb rhubarb

(film) Background noise of simultaneous conversations, none of which is decipherable since the actors are repeating the word rhubarb or other words with similar attributes.

ˈɹuˌbɑɹb ˈɹuˌbɑɹb70 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
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UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK

(film) Background noise of simultaneous conversations, none of which is decipherable since the actors are repeating the word rhubarb or other words with similar attributes.

1981: Tony Harrison, The Rhubarbarians I in collection ''Continuous: 50 sonnets from 'The School of Eloquence' ''. Rex Collings, London (1981)
Origin: Chosen as a word for producing indistinct background noise because it contains no very sharp or recognizable phonemes: see rhubarb. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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UK
#2·Apr 27, 2026UK

Blah blah; etc, etc.

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UK
#3·Apr 27, 2026UK

(pejorative) Speech which is undecipherable to the listener because it is in a language he or she does not understand; mumbo jumbo.

: Those glottals glugged like poured pop, each /rebarbative syllable, remembrancer, raise /‘mob' rhubarb-rhubarb to a tribune's speech /crossing the crackle as the hayracks blaze...
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.

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