fudge

{{11}}fudge (n.) type of confection, 1895, Amer.Eng., apparently a word first used among students at women's colleges; perhaps a special use of FUDGE (Cf. fudge) (v.).

'He lies,' answered Lord Etherington, 'so far as he pretends I know of such papers. I consider the whole story as froth -- foam, fudge, or whatever is most unsubstantial. ...' [Scott, "St. Ronan's Well," 1823]

{{12}}fudge (v.) "put together clumsily or dishonestly," 1610s, perhaps an alteration of fadge "make suit, fit" (1570s), of unknown origin. As an interjection meaning "lies, nonsense" from 1766; the noun meaning "nonsense" is 1791. It could be a natural extension from the verb. But Farmer suggests provincial Fr. fuche, feuche, "an exclamation of contempt from Low Ger. futsch = begone."

The traditional English story traces fudge in this sense to a sailor's retort to anything considered lies or nonsense, from Captain Fudge, "who always brought home his owners a good cargo of lies" [Isaac Disraeli, 1791, citing a pamphlet from 1700]. It seems there really was a late 17c. Captain Fudge, called "Lying Fudge," and perhaps his name reinforced this form of fadge in the sense of "contrive without the necessary materials." The surname is from Fuche, a pet form of the masc. proper name Fulcher, from Germanic and meaning literally "people-army."