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.

See also

• Birminghamize