flummery

n., pl., -ies.

1. Meaningless or deceptive language; humbug.
2. 1. Any of several soft, sweet, bland foods, such as custard.
   2. A sweet gelatinous pudding made by straining boiled oatmeal or flour.
   3. A soft dessert of stewed, thickened fruit, often mixed with a grain such as rice.

[Welsh llymru, soft jelly from sour oatmeal.]

(FLUHM-uh-ree)

noun
1. Any of various desserts made of flour, milk, eggs, etc.
2. Empty compliment; complete nonsense.

Etymology
From Welsh llymru, from llym (sour or sharp). Originally, it was a kind of porridge or pap, made by soaking oatmeal in water for a long time, until it has turned sour. How did we get from Welsh llymru to English flummery? That's to do with how the Welsh "ll" sounds to others: variously as thl, chl, shl, fl, etc. In this case, it's fl. For the same reason the surname Lloyd is sometimes spelled as Floyd

Usage
"Fox Broadcasting Co. aired its highly advertised special 'Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?' NASA, viewers were told, faked the Apollo missions on a movie set. Such flummery should not warrant a response," Michael Shermer; Fox's Flapdoodle; Scientific American (New York); Jun 2001.

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Old English pudding made by boiling down the water from soaked oatmeal until it becomes thick and gelatinous, then mixed with milk, buttermilk, or yoghurt and left to ferment. Similar to frumenty. Dutch flummery is made with gelatine or isinglass and egg yolk; Spanish flummery with cream, rice flour, and cinnamon.

[FLUHM-muh-ree] 1. A sweet soft pudding made of stewed fruit (usually berries) thickened with cornstarch. 2. Old-time British flummeries were made by cooking oatmeal until smooth and gelatinous; sweetener and milk were sometimes added. In the 18th century, the dish became a gelatin-thickened, cream- or milk-based dessert, flavored generously with sherry or madeira.

something poor, trashy, or not worth having; empty compliment or foolish deceptive language

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - melpap, creme, tant og fjas

Nederlands (Dutch)
meelpap, zoet dessert, vleierij, onzin, onzinnige ceremonie

Français (French)
n. - (Culin) bouillie, flagornerie

Deutsch (German)
n. - leere Schmeicheleien, Blödsinn

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μαγειρ.) κουρκούτι, (μτφ.) κουραφέξαλα, σαχλαμάρες, κολακεία

Italiano (Italian)
budino alla crema, sciocchezza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - papa (f) ou mingau (m) (Culin.)

Русский (Russian)
пустяки, вздор

Español (Spanish)
n. - pavadas, flan

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kall pudding, nonsens (vard.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
麦粥, 假恭维, 柔软易食的食品, 胡说

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 麥粥, 假恭維, 柔軟易食的食品, 胡說

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 커스터드류의 식품, 허튼소리

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - フラメリー, 戯言

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مديح أجوف, هراء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מליצות נבובות, הבלים, מאכל מתוק מביצים, סוכר ועוד‬

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