this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2025
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Original question by @Freshparsnip@lemm.ee

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[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago

This is the result of metanalysis, a phenomenon in a English (and Dutch!) where words beginning with N go from, eg. "a numble pie" to "an 'umble pie" or in this case, "a noodle" to "an oodle" to "oodles".

Now, obviously trying to count the number of noodles in a bowl thereof is a frustrating and pointless task, and from this we see the meaning of "oodles" as "too many too count". So what is an oodle? It's just one thing, probably; countable, finite, but long and wibbley.