A razzmatazz is a ploy to attract attention, it is usually loud or exuberant. It is thought to come from razzle-dazzle, and carries the connotation that the action is done to deceive or distract someone. It has no plural. Razzamatazz is a variant spelling of razzmatazz, and it is extremely less common. Some list it …
The phrase water under the bridge means to let the past go and do not hold a grudge or harbor bad feelings. There is reference here to the one directional flow of water and when it passes under a bridge, it does not pass back ever again. It is usually used in …
The phrase brand spanking new means to be entirely new or recently created, and was first recorded in 1860. It evolved from the compound word brand-new and the phrase spick-and-span. Also, spanking, while the main definition is to hit someone on the butt, can also mean to move quickly. So one might say that a brand spanking …
Effete is an adjective describing something as feminine or effeminate. An alternative definition is for something to lack effectiveness, to not have strength or bravery or to be unable to act. Its derivatives include effetely and effeteness. In the seventeenth century, effete meant being past the childbearing years, or to not be fertile. One can see the …
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To debark is to disembark, which is to get off of an airplane or ship or other mode of transportation. Both can also be the act of removing someone or something from the same vessels. Both have noun forms of debarkation and disembarkation, which refer to the location the person debarked at. Additionally, one can debark a tree, or …
Agitprop is political propaganda, usually art or literature with the sole purpose of persuading people to believe a certain set of ideals, originally Communism. It was coined in 1935 as a blend of the Russian words agitatsiya (agitation) and propaganda, and more specifically the shortened name of the Agitation and Propaganda Section of the Communist …
A calumny is a lie about a person told to ruin their character. It is also the name of the act of lying about someone. It is synonymous with slander. Though when someone is falsely accused of a crime, calumny is a more appropriate word. Its plural is calumnies. It also makes the adjective calumnious, the …
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Both Halloween and Hallowe’en are dictionary-accepted forms of the day when children dress up and knock on doors asking for candy. As an official holiday, it should always be capitalized, even when it is used as an adjective. The apostrophe spelling is more common outside the United States. History Most know that Hallowe’en is a contraction …
For something to be specious it has to appear to be correct or true, but in reality is false or incorrect. There is a slight connotation of it being related to appearances, that the specious item has an allure that is untrue. Its derivatives include speciously and speciousness. Spurious, on the other hand, is something that is …