flim-flam
See also: flimflam
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
1538 as noun, 1660 as verb. By reduplication. Perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).[1]
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -æm
- IPA(key): /ˈflɪmflæm/
Noun
flim-flam (countable and uncountable, plural flim-flams)
- Misinformation; bunkum; false information presented as true.
- Most reports of supernatural occurrences turn out to be flim-flam when carefully investigated.
- confidence game, con game
- (archaic) table tennis
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:nonsense
Derived terms
- flim-flam man: Confidence trickster
- flam
References
- “flim-flam” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
- Flimflam / Claptrap, The Word Detective, 2009–04–13
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