20 November 2018

flimflam

[flim-flam] Informal.

noun

1. a trick or deception, especially a swindle or confidence game involving skillful persuasion or clever manipulation of the victim.
2. a piece of nonsense; twaddle; bosh.
verb (used with object), flimflammed, flimflamming.
3. to trick, deceive, swindle, or cheat:
A fortuneteller flimflammed her out of her savings.

Origin of flimflam

1530-1540 First recorded in 1530-40; gradational compound of expressive orig.

Related forms

flimflammer, noun
flimflammery, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for flimflam

Historical Examples

As long as there is plenty of flimflam to distract the viewer.
Toy Shop
Henry Maxwell Dempsey

I tried my darndest to flimflam the information out of him, but it was no use.
The Gray Phantom’s Return
Herman Landon

A flimflam offer by a theologian of inchoate title to improved real estate in the Sky for real estate, rentals and cash on Earth.
The Roycroft Dictionary
Elbert Hubbard flimflam

Today’s quote

The day before something is a breakthrough it’s a crazy idea.

– Peter Diamandis

On this day

20 November 1900 – birth of Chester Gould, American creator of the cartoon strip, ‘Dick Tracy’. He drew the comic strip from 1931 to 1977. Died 11 May 1985.

20 November 1910 – death of Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer, (‘Anna Karenina‘, ‘War and Peace‘). Born 9 September 1828.

20 November 1947 – Princess Elizabeth, who is crowned Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, marries Phillip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey.

20 November 1985 – Microsoft launches Windows 1.01, a graphical user interface for personal computers. The program required MS-DOS to operate.