Sunday Word: Folderol

[sallymn]

folderol [fol-duh-rol]

noun:
1 a useless ornament or accessory; a trifle
2 mere nonsense; foolish talk or ideas

Examples:

Americans left all that royal folderol about titles behind them in 1776. Yet here we are, nearly 250 years later, agog about princes and dukes, queens and consorts, and the rest of the mystifying rules about royal style - and we're not talking about fashion. (Maria Puente, What's the difference between queen and 'Queen Consort'? Camilla's future title, explained, USA Today, February 2022)

Yet Bennett and pianist Ralph Sharon strip away any and all rococo folderol to get to the meat of rejection with their spare, cutting (yet still happily hammy) rendition. (A D Amorosi, The Best of Tony Bennett: 15 Essential Musical Moments to Lose Your Heart To, Variety, July 2023)

She called it the Fairy Castle; it was a massive, exquisitely constructed dollhouse that she took on a national tour to raise money for charity. There is, yes, too much ink spilled over the real jewels in it, the craftsmen who created it and so on, but without all that folderol she wouldn’t have gotten to its library. (Carolyn Kellogg, The guilty pleasure of reading Hollywood memoirs, Los Angeles Times, June 2017)

In the Hanging Rock sort of community, having all the snobbishness of Fifth Avenue, Back Bay, and Rittenhouse Square, with the added torment of the snobbishness being perpetually ungratified - in such communities, beneath a surface reeking culture and idealistic folderol, there is a coarse and brutal materialism, a passion for money, for luxury, for display, that equals aristocratic societies at their worst (David Graham Phillips, The Price She Paid)

Origin:

Also falderal, falderall, falderol, etc., 18c. nonsense words from refrains of old songs; also tol-de-rol, etc. The meaning 'gewgaw, trifle' is attested from 1820. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

Hogwash. Claptrap. Hooey. Drivel. Malarkey. English is rife with words that mean 'nonsense,' and 'folderol' is one of the many. Though not the most common of the words for nonsense, it's been around since 1820 and is still heard today. 'Folderol' comes from 'fol-de-rol' (or 'fal-de-ral'), which used to be a nonsense refrain in songs, much like 'tra-la-la.' The oldest recorded instance of someone 'singing folderol' occurs in Irish dramatist George Farquhar's 1701 play Sir Harry Wildair, in which a character sings, 'Fal, al, deral!' (Merriam-Webster)

Comments

[wobblegong]

Surprised and amused to realize I'm familiar with a modern use of the antiquated "nonsense song refrain" the word forked from: Lemon Jelly's "Nice Weather for Ducks"! To quote wikipedia:

The track is primarily built around a sample of John Langstaff's All the Ducks which is an English translation of the traditional Dutch children's song Alle Eendjes Zwemmen in het Water. (Lemon Jelly were unable to clear the rights for the use of Langstaff's voice and instead the vocals are performed by Scottish actor Enn Reitel.)

It sounds quite obvious to my ear how the vowel wobbled/changed from/between A and O, when you hear it sung. It's on youtube if you'd like to give it a listen.

[full_metal_ox]

Nobody’s yet mentioned this (comparatively) modern use? (If 1965 qualifies as “modern” any more; this is the version I grew up with, although the 1997 remake with Brandi and Whitney Houston is by now itself hoary old nostalgia to people under 30):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwWXVoe2-Yw

[sallymn]

It's sobering to think how long ago the sixties are...

[full_metal_ox]

If you feel old hearing the music of your youth conscripted into fast-food jingles and supermarket Muzak, wait till you stop hearing it (except in shops cultivating a vintage atmosphere and at period theme parties.)

[wobblegong]

I don't think I'd heard this version before! (And I can't entirely blame time– I've watched The Wizard of Oz multiple times to admire 1939's technological showboating.) It's delightful, I immediately listened to it five times in a row. So catchy. Thank you for sharing it! :D

[full_metal_ox]

And now you’re being ridden by an earworm, aren’t you.

[wobblegong]

I am, but after the other earworms December has tormented me with it's very welcome. At least this is a cute song about daring to dream!

[sallymn]

Thank you, I will!

[oddprophet]

Hell yes, I love saying folderol

[sallymn]

It's a fun word!