Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Trumpery: A Word A Day

Back in the day when I lived in expat world, I sometimes taught English. I always recommended A Word a Day (Anu Garg) to aspiring English speakers. Vocabulary is important. A Word a Day gives you both the meaning and will pronounce it for you, too.

Today, AWAD made me laugh. Today’s word is Trumpery.

trumpery

PRONUNCIATION:
(TRUHM-puh-ree) 

 

MEANING:
noun:
1. Something showy but worthless.
2. Nonsense or rubbish.
3. Deceit; fraud; trickery.

 

ETYMOLOGY:
From French tromper (to deceive). Earliest documented use: 1481.

 

USAGE:
“The room was crowded with a chilly miscellany of knick-knacks and ornaments, gewgaws, and trumpery of every kind.”
Leo Bruce; Case for Three Detectives; Academy Chicago; 1980.

“History, made up as it is of so much trumpery, treachery, and tyranny, needs deeds of valor, of sacrifice, and of heroism if it is to be palatable.”
The Medal of Honor: A History of Service Above and Beyond; Zenith Press; 2014. 

See more usage examples of trumpery in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

 

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I have three ex-wives. I can’t remember any of their names, so I just call ’em Plaintiff. -Lewis Grizzard, humorist (20 Oct 1946-1994) 

 

 

October 20, 2016 - Posted by | Political Issues, Words

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