brummagem

See also: Brummagem

English

Etymology

From Birmingham, England where cheap manufactured goods used to be produced.

Adjective

brummagem (not comparable)

1. Cheap and showy; meretricious.
   • 1893, Graham Everitt, English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century, page 175:

     The unhappy man (who had cheated the sailors), innocent of danger, is seated on a grating with his combs, spy-glasses, necklaces, ribbons, and all the rest of his "Brummagem" trumpery, spread out before him.

   • 1999, Lemony Snicket, The Reptile Room:

     "My, my, my, my, my," said a voice from behind them, and the Baudelaire orphans turned to find Stephano standing there,...a look of brummagem surprise on his face. "Brummagem" is such a rare word for "fake" that even Klaus didn't know what it meant, but the children did not have to be told that Stephano was pretending to be surprised.

Noun

brummagem (plural brummagems)

1. Alternative form of Brummagem (“person from Birmingham”)

See also

• Birminghamize