'arglebargle' originates in English as a playful rhyming reduplication formed from nonsense syllables; it appears in informal usage in the 19th century to label confused talk or petty dispute.

'arglebargle' emerged as a folk or humorous formation (rhyming pair 'argle' + 'bargle') in colloquial English and was used in print and speech to mean 'nonsense' or 'quarrel'; it has remained a jocular informal term into modern usage.

Initially coined as a humorous pair of nonsense syllables for comic effect, it came to be used more specifically for 'nonsense' or 'petty, pointless argument' and retains that meaning today.