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folderol: msg#00014

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: folderol


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The Word of the Day for December 14 is:

folderol \FAHL-duh-rahl\ noun
1 : a useless ornament or accessory : trifle
*2 : nonsense

Example sentence:
Cherie dismissed the tabloid article as useless folderol.

Did you know?
Hogwash. Claptrap. Hooey. Drivel. Malarkey. English is rife with words
that mean "nonsense," and "folderol" is one of the many. Though not the most
common of the words for nonsense, it's been around since 1820 and is still
heard today. "Folderol" comes from "fol-de-rol" (or "fal-de-ral"), which used
to be a nonsense refrain in songs, much like "tra-la-la." The oldest recorded
instance of someone "singing folderol" occurs in Irish dramatist George
Farquhar’s 1701 play _Sir Harry Wildair_, in which a character sings, "Fal, al,
deral!"





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