cockamamie
adjective

- ridiculous, pointless, or nonsensical

- foolish, ill-considered, silly, unbelievable

Dictionary-Com, Free Dictionary

—

WORD ORIGIN

The origin of "cockamamie" can be traced back to New York City in the early 20th century. It evolved from the word "decalcomania", which refers to a process of transferring designs or “decals” from paper to surfaces like glass or porcelain.

In the late 1800s, "decalcomania" became popular as a children’s activity in New York, where children would use colourful, decorative decals, often whimsical or fantastical in nature.

Over time, children in New York's East Side shortened and distorted the word "decalcomania" into "cockamamie". By the mid-20th century, the meaning of the word shifted away from decals and came to describe anything absurd, nonsensical, or preposterous.

—

THE WORLD IS FLAT

The Persistence of Earth-Shape Denial

In a world where we've photographed our planet from space, some people still hold the cockamamie belief that the Earth is flat. Although the public consensus is that Flat Earthers are a fringe group clinging to an archaic notion, their numbers have grown significantly in recent years, largely thanks to social media and video-sharing platforms.

Flat Earth theories come in various flavours. Some believe our disc-shaped world is surrounded by an ice wall (Antarctica) that keeps the oceans from spilling over the edge. Others propose we live under a dome, like a cosmic snow globe. The Sun and Moon, they claim, are mere projections or small objects circling above us like spotlights. Some even believe in an infinite plane with undiscovered continents beyond the ice wall. This diversity of ideas within the community often leads to heated debates at their conferences. The last annual Flat Earth conference at the Denver Airport Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, attracted more than 600 people.

The modern Flat Earth movement is a fascinating study in the power of belief over evidence. Many Flat Earthers are drawn to the theory not out of scientific conviction, but due to a deep-seated distrust of authority. For them, the shape of the Earth is less about geography and more about questioning mainstream narratives and institutions.

In an age of unprecedented access to information, Flat Earthers remind us that knowledge alone doesn't always lead to understanding.

Paul & Helga Smith

—

SYNONYMS



absurd, addle-brained, airheaded, alice-in-wonderland, around the bend, asinine, bananas, barking (mad), barmy, batty, be not all there (off your chump, off your nut), birdbrained, blithering, bonkers, bovine, brainless, bubbleheaded, bumbling, cerebrally challenged, certifiable, cloth-eared, COCKAMAMIE, coo-coo, crackbrained, cracked, crackpot, crazy, cretinous, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dopey, dorky, dotty, drivelling, empty-headed, farcical, fatheaded, fatuous, foolish, fruitcake, gonzo, goofy, gormless, harebrained, imbecilic, inane, insane, kooky, laughable, loony, loopy, ludicrous, lunatic, mad, madcap, nonsensical, nutso, nutty, off one's rocker, out of your mind (to lunch), outlandish, peabrained, pie in the sky, pointless, potty, preposterous, ridiculous, risible, round the bend, scatterbrained, screw loose, screwball, screwy, senseless, short of a full load, silly, stupid, trumpy, unhinged, vacuous, wacky, wifty, witless, woolly-headed

—

SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Of all the English synonyms describing the idiocy of mankind, COCKAMAMIE is one of my favourites.”

—

Why Support OWAD?

On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga (my lovely wife and business partner) and our eagle-eyed daughter Jennifer. It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.

Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive

or

Bank transfer:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40

Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.

Thanks so much,

Paul & Helga Smith