E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Fiddle-faddle.
It is all fiddle-faddle. Rubbishy nonsense; talk not worth attention. A ricochet word, of which we have a vast number, as “flim-flam,” “helter-skelter,” “wishy-washy,” etc. To fiddle is to waste time in playing on the fiddle, and hence fiddle means a trifle, and fiddle-faddle is silly trifle or silly nonsense.
1
“Pitiful fool that I was to stand fiddle-faddling in that way.”
