flim flam
deceptive talk or tricks
TRANSLATION
flim flam = der Quatsch flim flam = der Betrug, der Schwindel --- GOOGLE INDEX flim flam: approximately 200,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Lord Butler told the Hay festival in Powys there should be "more substance to the government and less FLIM FLAM."
(BBC News)
---
The Internet can be a powerful marketing tool, but it’s also an effective vehicle for fraudsters, FLIM-FLAM artists, and for companies with no qualms about using deception and unscrupulous tactics...
(The Business Insider)
(BBC News)
---
The Internet can be a powerful marketing tool, but it’s also an effective vehicle for fraudsters, FLIM-FLAM artists, and for companies with no qualms about using deception and unscrupulous tactics...
(The Business Insider)
Did you
know?
flim flam (also written flim-flam)
noun/adjective
- nonsense; humbug
- a deception; a swindle
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
Flim flam is a 16th century word that from the beginning meant nonsense talk or deception. The "flim" part of the term may be of Scandinavian origin (flim = a lampoon or mockery). The expression itself is what linguists call a "reduplication," which is creating a new word by slightly changing and repeating it (e.g. pittle pattle).
A good example of a flim flam in the sense of deception is the so-called shell game, which is a fraud carried out by gaining the confidence of the victim (such games are also referred to as confidence tricks). The game, which is often played on busy public streets, requires three shells (bottle caps, cups, etc.) and a small round object that is "hidden" under one of the shells.
Players who correctly guess under which shell the ball is hidden can double the amount of their bet. In most cases though, the flim-flam artist hides the ball in one of his hands without anyone noticing so that no one ever wins. As Laura Nyro wrote in her 1970s song "Flim Flam Man:"
Hands off the man, the flim flam man.
His mind is up his sleeve and his talk is make believe.
Oh lord, the man's a fraud, he's flim flam man. He’s so cagey, he’s a flim flam man.
---
SYNONYMS
(trick)
cheat, deceit, deception, game, hoax, sham
(nonsense)
gibberish, double talk, drivel, mumbo jumbo, palaver, prattle, twaddle
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The presentation was full of flim-flam."
noun/adjective
- nonsense; humbug
- a deception; a swindle
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
Flim flam is a 16th century word that from the beginning meant nonsense talk or deception. The "flim" part of the term may be of Scandinavian origin (flim = a lampoon or mockery). The expression itself is what linguists call a "reduplication," which is creating a new word by slightly changing and repeating it (e.g. pittle pattle).
A good example of a flim flam in the sense of deception is the so-called shell game, which is a fraud carried out by gaining the confidence of the victim (such games are also referred to as confidence tricks). The game, which is often played on busy public streets, requires three shells (bottle caps, cups, etc.) and a small round object that is "hidden" under one of the shells.
Players who correctly guess under which shell the ball is hidden can double the amount of their bet. In most cases though, the flim-flam artist hides the ball in one of his hands without anyone noticing so that no one ever wins. As Laura Nyro wrote in her 1970s song "Flim Flam Man:"
Hands off the man, the flim flam man.
His mind is up his sleeve and his talk is make believe.
Oh lord, the man's a fraud, he's flim flam man. He’s so cagey, he’s a flim flam man.
---
SYNONYMS
(trick)
cheat, deceit, deception, game, hoax, sham
(nonsense)
gibberish, double talk, drivel, mumbo jumbo, palaver, prattle, twaddle
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The presentation was full of flim-flam."
