folderol
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɒldəɹəl/
ipa: /ˈfɔldəɹɔl/
Forms: form: folderols
form: fol-de-rol
form: fol de rol
form: falderal
Etymology: Originally a nonsense refrain in songs, since circa 1701, as "fal, al, deral!", and 1820, used to make the song longer without adding more meaningful content (see non-lexical vocables in music). Compare falleri, fallera, extended as falleralla or fallerallera, in Swedish and German songs.
Senses: examples: text: William Maclay, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a senator, was a watchdog against the development of any monarchial folderol gathering about the office of the president.
ref: 1978, Page Smith, The Constitution: A Documentary and Narrative History, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, published 1980, page 303:
text: [The librarian] rang the bell at nine. I hurried over to Philosophy and grabbed anything. It was another Nietzsche: Man and Superman. I knew that would get her. Before stamping it, she flipped a few pages.
"My!" she said. "What books you read!"
I said, "Haw. That's nothing. I never read folderol."
She smiled good night.
ref: 1985, John Fante, The Road to Los Angeles:
text: In this confrontation with the magic of science and the magic of folderol, it is almost impossible not to side with the magic of folderol, and the silly, but relatively benign, Merlin.
ref: 1992, Donald L. Hoffman, “Mark's Merlin: Magic vs. Technology in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court”, in Sally K. Slocum, editor, Popular Arthurian Traditions, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, page 52:
text: “To say the essay has 'development of ideas' is absolute folderol.”
“I beg your pardon?” Maria asked.
“Folly,” he explained pedantically. “Poppycock. Gibberish.”
“I know what folderol means,” Maria said. “I just think you better watch what you say.”
ref: 2009, Todd Farley, Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, page 48:
glosses: Nonsense or foolishness.
examples: text: And they made a mistake there: the prizes were a lot of folderols and doodads like poetry books and illustrated Testaments, instead of something a real live kid would want to work for, like real cash or a speedometer for his motor cycle.
ref: 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 215:
text: He didn't share Miss Flora's penchant for collecting gaudy, useless knickknacks, and wouldn't have bought any of those foolish, foreign fandangles and folderols if he did have the money to waste.
ref: 2000, Linda Shertzer, Cassie's Fortune, Jove Books, page 32:
text: “I notice you're not keen on folderols.”
“Folderols?” Amanda echoed uncomprehendingly.
“My grandmother's term for decorative items, pictures, knick-knacks,” Connor's hand swept the room.
ref: 2008, G. K. Sutton, The Witherspoon Legacy, Xlibris, page 86:
glosses: A decorative object of little value; a trifle or gewgaw.
Synonyms: sense: nonsense
word: fandangle
sense: nonsense
word: foolishness
sense: nonsense
word: nonsense
sense: decorative object
word: bauble
sense: decorative object
word: fandangle
sense: decorative object
word: gewgaw
sense: decorative object
word: trifle
sense: decorative object
word: trinket
Related terms: frippery
scat singing