A.Word.A.Day --flummadiddle

A.Word.A.Day

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Dec 4, 2008

This week's theme
Americanisms

This week's words
skedaddle
absquatulate
discombobulate
flummadiddle
hornswoggle

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

flummadiddle or flumadiddle

PRONUNCIATION:

(FLUHM-uh-did-l)

MEANING:

noun: 1. Nonsense. 2. Something worthless.

ETYMOLOGY:

Of uncertain origin, apparently from flummery (a dessert; nonsense).

USAGE:

"Gilly talks to hear his head rattle. He passes the time with flummadiddles. I learned right away that he says things without giving any thought to them."
Dorothy Garlock; Larkspur; Warner Books; 1997.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom? -Thomas Carlyle, historian and essayist (1795-1881)

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