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Saturday, April 6, 2013

F - FLIM-FLAM!

The American Slang Dictionary
By: James Maitland
Chicago [1891]


Okay what you might not know about me, is I love books from pre-1900's and art... Below is 26 words using the letter "F" and I would like a comment from you that uses one of the them. Here or on my "F" post on my site, it might be fun or a flop.

What else is interesting that this book is over 100 years old and we still use some of the phrases/slang in our everyday language. Well at least I do and that ain't some flim-flam!
 
Jeremy [Retro]
AtoZ Challenge Co-Host
Oh No, Let's Go... Crazy

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Flicker, "let her flicker." Let her go.
Flies, (Am.), "no flies on him;" no nonsense about him.
Flim-flam (Old Eng.), nonsense; a stupid story.
Flimsy (Eng.), a Bank of England note.
Flimsy, copying paper used by reporters.
Fling, "to have one's" to indulge or dissipate.
Flip, fresh, fly, impudent.
Flip-flop, a dance or break-down ; a somersault.
Flipper, the hand. Sailor's slang.
Flit (Scotch and Old Eng.), to remove from one house to another.
Floater (Am.), a body found in the river or lake.
Floor (P. R.), to knock down.
Floored, beaten, knocked out.
Floorer, a knock-down blow.
Flop, to fall over suddenly, as one who faints.
Flop (Am.), in politics, to change front on a question.
Fluke (Eng.), an accidental shot at billiards, or indeed anything gained when not expected.
Flume (Am.), in the mining districts "flumes" are used to convey water for the purpose of washing out pay-dirt. A man who dies is said to have "gone up the flume."
Flummery, flattery, gammon, nonsense. The name is also given to a light pudding.
Flummoxed, perplexed. Sometimes pronounced "kerflummixed."
Flunk, to fail, to back out.
Flunkey (Eng.), a man servant or footman.
Flunky, frightened, timid.
Flush (Am.), having plenty of money.
Fogle (Old Cant), a silk handkerchief.
Fogle-faker, a pickpocket.

85 comments:

  1. I am enjoying flitting from post to post - like a fritillary(?)
    suestrifles.wordpress.com/

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  2. Fogle-faker is officially my fave 'f' word that I didn't know about. Awesome list!

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  3. I love books like this. I have one of slang from London from the 1800s and one from the 90s prediction words of the future.

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  5. Excellent post, enjoyed going through your list.

    Enjoy your week-end.

    Yvonne.

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  6. I still say flit when talking about moving house. How about a flutter on the races this weekend? Another one for the list.
    Have a good one :-)

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  7. At first I was floored by your request, then i figured it out.

    Rhonda @Laugh-Quotes.com
    AtoZ #42

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  8. FOOL THE FREAT AS FANK THE FIDDLE, the FELON FlIT with the FRIBBLE.


    Rob Z Tobor

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  9. It might be just a fluke but I use some of these words today. No flies on me ... right? Now I think I'll flit away and re-evaluate my vocabulary.

    Enjoyed the list!

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  10. It is by Fluke that I found this post of yours. Now your blog is a keeper:)

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  11. oh fabulous! I used flummoxed in my F word post and Fluke my dog (an unexpected addition to our family) has a mention or two, I do love good vocab thankyou for sharing!

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  12. One of my most favored expressions and always reminds me of the movie Short Circuit. hehe.

    http://thenovabug-blog.blogspot.co.uk/

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  13. Hi Jeremy,
    This is really interesting, good collection for F sweet and spicey LOL
    Keep posting
    Happy Weekend

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  14. I don't mean to be flip, but I am floored by your request.

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  15. Still using some of those words like flies, fling, floater, floored, fluke, flume, flunk, flunky, flush....and.....was thrilled to see one of my moms favourite words "flummoxed". Fabulous!

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  16. I'm not allowed to use the F word. :)

    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

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  17. We use flop at my son's soccer games to describe someone who falls expecting to get a foul called, when none should be.

    TaMara
    Tales of a Pee Dee Mama

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  18. LOVE this! It's a post for word nerds...so many to choose from, but at this point I will say, I wish I was flush so that we could pay these &^%# medical bills...



    Tina @ Life is Good
    Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
    @TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

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  19. Flummoxed a bit re: the awards zombie but I have saved it and will TRY really hard to post it now that I have JUST posted my F word - Freedom- and plan to check out others' posts now.
    Also was flummoxed by the signature but with help I now have it so I will use it here - for the first time.

    Susan Scott's Soul Stuff
    or:more simply: http://www.gardenofedenblog.com
    Have a great weekend!

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  20. Fabulous! I wonder what words we use all the time these days will make it on to lists like this in 50 years.

    http://www.alioffthemark.com

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  21. My idea wasn't quite that creative, but I think I wrote it well anyway! http://www.bookishgeek.com/2013/04/a-to-z-challenge-fingernails.html

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  22. What a flipper funky way to see the old fun words they used to use. I'm freaked out about it in a fabulous way. A to Z all the flip flopping way.

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  23. Thank you for co-hosting this challenge. I hope I can make it to the end with out flunk.

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  24. I used to hear 'floater' a lot when I lived out west b/c of the suicides that'd turn up in various and sundry waterways in SF Bay and Puget Sound.

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  25. Love the word 'flummoxed'. Great post!

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  26. We used many of these words in my family , as my grandparents from one side (born in the late 1800's) lived near me and my parents. I also read a lot of old books, such as the Jeeves series by PG Wodehouse, and basically just fit into old world style, myself, as a kid. I remember my grandmother grabbing my hand in NYC and saying to me, "We're feeling pretty flush, aren't we?" :)

    Jean Yates A to Z--thanks for the memories !

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  27. It was a fluke entering so many blogs in the A - Z this year. I hope I don't flop on the floor when it's over.

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  28. Flim flam is a good word. Makes me think of the movie the Flim-Flam Man--which I loved. I haven't seen it in years. Now I have to see if Netflix has it. So that's 2 movies now I have to find from hopping around A-Z blogs. :)

    http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/

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  29. Apple's shares flopped after the launch of iphone 5

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  30. F is for Floater
    #1382
    http://mauldinfamily1.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/f-is-for-floater/

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  31. I used the F word a lot!

    I'm lovin this Blog Challenge! Its rockin my face off.

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  32. It's no fluke that many of these words still serve us well today.

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  33. I've always liked the word flummoxed...great post!

    Shannon at I Survived and Now I Run

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  34. I loved the movie "The Flim Flam Man" too. Fabulous list of F words. Some I had forgotten, others are forever on my mind.

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  35. I never realized that was the origin of the word "flimsy." I love seeing where words come from, and how we as speaking people change the meanings of words over time.

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  36. I'm too flunky to comment on very many blogs... I need to get more bold!!

    Jaimie
    Living in the Light
    A to Z Ambassador

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  37. This week I have flit from one blog to another, just as I flit from DD1's house in CA, to my house in MO.
    Katie atBankerchick Scratchings

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  38. Flim Flam is a new one on me.

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  39. Very cute reminded me of Dr Seuss

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  40. Great idea! The day I finally get an agent I will do a flip-flop.

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  41. I like the last one - Fogle Faker!


    Story Treasury

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  42. Floored by your post, yet flummoxed as to how not to flunk!

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  43. Fun post and that's no flummery.
    Jagoda
    http://www.conflicttango.com

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  44. I love all of these! I wish my F post were this cool. :P

    Jessica at Scary-Simple-Smitten

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  45. I hope I don't flunk at this task. :)

    From A to Z, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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  46. Fogle-faker is a good word.

    Sorry hadn't commented on this site much! though I come everyday. Thanks for teaching how to do the signature. Hope it turns out right.

    Writer’s Mark

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  47. From one of my upcoming A to Z posts:

    "Two blades [in a razor] are optimal; a third is acceptable but a bit superfluous. Four and five are snake oil and flim-flam, respectively."

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  48. I deal with people every day who are flummoxed...in fact I say it to them and they have no idea what I am talking about.

    Chuck at Apocalypse Now

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  49. I'm flummoxed by some of these words!

    I hadn't heard of some of these words before, interesting post!

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  50. I've would have laughed til I cried over this FLIM-FLAM post, but it seems a Fogle-Faker's Flipper has taken my Fogle.
    Sue CollectInTexasGal
    AtoZ LoneStar Quilting Bee

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  51. Gotta love the english language. Did a post the other day about some fun words that were added to the dictionary recently; very original as you can imagine after writing that list :)

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  52. What a great list of F words! I've always loved the word Flunkey..... And Fogel-faker is one I must find a use for at some point. Maybe I can put it as my occupation on a form of some sort.

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  53. This old fogey was flummoxed by the frivolous phrases.

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  54. Not easy to do, I fear I may flunk, but this a fun request from fantastic post.

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  55. I was just going to say something flip, but know that is what I usually do.

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  56. I am flush.

    I'm ballin'.
    I'm stacked.
    I'm fly.
    I'm money.
    I'm iced out.
    I'm flossin'.

    And it feels good ;)

    I wonder what James Maitland would think about the evolution of language today :)

    Great stuff, Jeremy. F FTW!

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  57. I'm very much a fan of digging into archaic language and giving it a fresh read in the new century. It's certainly no fluke that it's a relevant today, in its own way, as it was when first coined. Bravo for this literary resurrection.

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  58. I got your comment, the one about which blog I am using for the A-Z Challenge. I looked because I wasn't sure if I had signed up under my new blog or my old one, and #249 is the blog I am using. I hope this helps in cleaning all the links up. :)

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  59. Hi Jeremy, Great words all. I especially like flummoxed and would find frequent opportunities to use it if I remembered it when I was flummoxed. God bless, Maria from Delight Directed Living

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  60. I was a bit flummoxed by how I might have incorporated "Flipper" into my comment... so I went another route instead.

    Great list!

    Lyre at Lyre's Musings

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  61. so many GREAT Words!!!
    Thanks.
    -g-

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  62. Interesting list. I like the world flipper, but as in a dolphin flipping, like Flipper the movie. (sweetbeariesart.com)

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  63. One of the best things about raising a grandchild is that you get to teach them about your world. At 12, he knows most of these words and was tickled to find new ones. Needless to say, his vocabulary is somewhat larger than his peers. Thanks for the list! We had a good time with it.

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  64. You have floored me with the awesomeness of this post. Those are some neat words, I still use a few of them, and not just ironically.

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  65. I am flummoxed as to what F word I should include in my comment. I did notice that Fogle is a handkerchief and Fogle-faker is a pickpocket. Do pickpockets fool their victims by pretending to be a tissue in their pocket? "Don't mind me. I'm not a criminal reaching into your pocket, just your crumpled snot rag"

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  66. You forgot "Fanny", which has a rather different connotation in Britain as opposed to North America.

    Gary, your cordial host of the alternate alphabet challenge!

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  67. Thank goodness we wear Flip Flops on our feet (yes, this wasn't your definition) unlike the old days when we wore 'thongs.'
    Because I don't think the modern-day things would give us much protection.

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  68. I have a friend whose parents told him his birth was a fluke. I guess that's better than being labeled a mistake.

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  69. It's no fluke that you get all this comment activity when you post something cool like the above!

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  70. Oh this is so interesting! Never knew about this dictionary! It's always cool to learn from blogs!!! Thank you!

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  71. I think I'm being 'FilmedFlamed' regarding the A-Z challenge...I follow and it says "closed"??

    Help me I want to join ya'
    PLU from SSF...donechute.com

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  72. I love the word flume - just amuses me .. but it serves such an important part of life ...

    Great list of different words everyone's left ... quite difficult to say F words ... oh well! Cheers Hilary

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  73. I'm late to this party! One of my favourite kind, involving words!
    I'm floored by the list of F- words... (Not a good one, but hey, my brain is already on G...)

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  74. I love your list good words, but some that you credit Am. are used a lot in England. Happy A to Z.

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  75. Fabulous post. Wish I saw this when I did my F post.

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  76. I love slang terms, especially if I'm rp'ing in a period. I like to google the slang of the time.

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  77. Well, I was FLOORED as well as FLUMMOXED to discover another word collector..Now I shall FOGLE_FAKER your word list. This blog is a definite keeper.

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  78. There should be resurgence in older slang words - let's keep them in circulation!

    Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom

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