COCK as vernacular pop adjectival

[Laurence Horn]

>>
>>I believe Singapore-English "talk[ing] cock" = "talk[ing] nonsense" or so
>>(cf "poppycock").
>
>which brings us back to "caca"/"cack", given that "poppycock" <
>"papekak", soft dung
>
Oops, I should have checked before sending.  The above was from
memory, and while the sources I just checked confirm the "kak"
('dung') half, the "pape" should have been "pappe" (the Middle Dutch
was "pappekak") and it's not certain whether it really comes from a
word meaning "soft".  AHD4 gives Lat. "pappa" 'food' as one
possibility (yum!) and leaves it open as to whether there might be
others.  But the "kak" part seems firm.    As it were.

larry