51吃瓜 of the Day
More about flapdoodle
Flapdoodle, 鈥渘onsense; bosh,鈥� is a colloquialism that first appeared in print in 1834 along with a definition: 鈥淚t鈥檚 the stuff they feed fools on.鈥� Flapdoodle has no reliable etymology; the meaning of flap is pure conjecture, but some scholars suggest that doodle has its archaic sense 鈥渁 fool, silly person.鈥� Mark Twain uses flapdoodle in chapter 25 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884): 鈥溾�the King] works himself up and slobbers out a speech, all full of tears and flapdoodle about its being a sore trial for him and his poor brother鈥�.鈥�
how is flapdoodle used?
But Shlaes suavely dismisses the notion that Coolidge bears responsibility for the Great Depression and suggests his work was 鈥渃omplete, ready as a kind of blessing for another era.鈥�
This is flapdoodle. No, Coolidge was not single-handedly culpable for the economic calamity of the 1930s. But neither can he be safely extracted from the ruin that followed his presidency.
At home, a day later, too jet-lagged to think straight, I watch the 鈥淒a Vinci Code鈥� movie for the first time. Now, I remember some silly flapdoodle about vessels and chalices and secret societies, but not much else. Nothing, it seems, rubbed off on me.
flapdoodle
insouciant
adjective
free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.
More about insouciant
Insouciant, 鈥渇ree from concern or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant,鈥� comes straight from French insouciant, literally 鈥渘ot caring,鈥� a compound of the French negative prefix in– 鈥渘ot鈥� (from Latin in-, and naturalized in English in– from both Latin and French borrowings), and the present participle souciant 鈥渃aring,鈥� from the verb soucier 鈥渢o trouble, care.鈥� Soucier comes from Vulgar Latin 蝉辞濒濒颈肠墨迟腻谤别 鈥渢o worry, vex,鈥� from Latin 蝉辞濒濒颈肠颈迟腻谤别 鈥渢o disturb, harass.鈥� The French noun souci 鈥渃are, worry鈥� is part of the phrase sans souci 鈥渨ithout worries, carefree,鈥� which, spelled Sanssouci, is the name of the summer palace built by King Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, between 1745 and 1747. Insouciant entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is insouciant used?
And while I expected to meet people electrified by political change, I mainly encountered cautious optimism mixed with insouciant shrugs toward the politicians.
She preferred to take the more insouciant attitude of an old veteran who has been there, done that, seen it all. 鈥淚鈥檝e won so many grand slam titles. And I鈥檓 at a position where I don鈥檛 need to win another Wimbledon,鈥� she smiled.
insouciant
Gallicism
noun
a French idiom or expression used in another language, as Je ne sais quoi when used in English.
More about Gallicism
Gallicism has three related meanings in English: The first one is 鈥渁 French phrase or idiom used in another language,” as when in English one says Je ne sais quoi, meaning “an indefinable, elusive quality” (literally, “I don鈥檛 know what鈥�); the second meaning is 鈥渁 feature characteristic of or peculiar to the French language鈥�; and the third, 鈥渁 custom or trait considered to be characteristically French.鈥� Gallicism comes via French gallicisme from the Latin adjective Gallicus 鈥減ertaining to Gaul (modern France, roughly) or the Gauls.鈥� Gallicism entered English just after the middle of the 17th century.
how is Gallicism used?
With regard to mise-en-scene, Mr. William Archer … raises the difficulty that if you represent the Gallicism by an Americanism and speak of “staging,” you are still in the difficulty that you cannot substitute a cognate word for metteur-en-scene.
True, she has cultivated a public persona that borders on self-parody, puffing on Marlboro Lights as she speaks, her conversation spiked with thorny Gallicisms. 鈥淐鈥檈st pas possible!鈥� she will say of the scores of bloggers preening at Lincoln Center during Fashion Week.
Gallicism