xrdb -load ~/.Xdefaults cpp: too many input files

"Cpp reports this error if it receives more than two arguments on the command line.

On what OS are you running? Is there a non-standard version of cpp in your $PATH? You can try replacing cpp with a wrapper script to find out what it's really doing or use ""strace"" to see how it's being called.

Hold on, I think I've got it: the path to your directory contains whitespace. Watch this:

$ mkdir '/tmp/this path contains spaces'
$ HOME='/tmp/this path contains spaces' sh
$ cd ~
$ pwd
/tmp/this path contains spaces
$ touch testfile
$ xrdb ~/testfile
cpp: too many input files

Let me know if this is an accurate assessment."