Tripe is the lining of a cow's or sheep's stomach, prepared and cooked as food. In many cultures around the world, tripe is considered a delicious ingredient in soups and stews. Mexican menudo and Vietnamese phở often include tripe, as does Italian trippa alla romana. To people who grew up eating these dishes, tripe is simply good food, though others find its chewy, honeycomb-textured appearance strange or unappetizing.

The word tripe also means nonsense or worthless writing and speech. If someone says a story is tripe, they mean it's poorly written and not worth anyone's time. When a student calls their little brother's excuse for breaking a toy “complete tripe,” they're saying it's an obvious lie or a ridiculous explanation. This meaning suggests something insultingly bad, so bad it seems like the person didn't even try to make it believable or worthwhile.

Both meanings share a sense of something others might consider unpleasant or worthless, though in the first case, that judgment is simply a matter of taste.