folderol
Nonsense or foolishness.
Noun
- Nonsense or foolishness.
- 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. - 1978, Page Smith, The Constitution: A Documentary...
- [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...
- 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. - 1992, Donald L. Hoffman, “Mark's...
- A decorative object of little value; a trifle or gewgaw.
- 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...
- 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. - 2000, Linda Shertzer,...
- “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. - 2008, G. K. Sutton, The...
Origin
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.