Friday, May 20, 2011



Word of the Day for Friday, May 20, 2011


foofaraw \FOO-fuh-raw\, noun:


1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration.

2. A fuss over a matter of little importance.


The B.O. would rather you focus on foofaraw such as having a disgusting rapper appear in the White House rather than the substantive issues like the out of control 14 trillion dollar debt, illegal immigration, and unsustainable entitlement programs!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog


A somber, muted descending motif opens and closes the work, which is brief but effective. It provided much needed relief from the fanfares and foofaraw in which brass-going composers so often indulge.-- Philip Kennicott, "Brass Spectacular is a Spectacle of Special Sound", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 17, 1997


As usual, with all cooperation with Tom Lea, Art becomes a "taking away" process rather than the adding of ornaments, rules, and other foofaraw.-- David R. Farmer, Stanley Marcus: A Life With Books


Making the Times best-seller list, or a movie, or all that other foofaraw is not necessarily proof of [a novel's] lasting significance.-- Roger K. Miller, "Peyton Place' was remarkably good bad novel", Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 29, 1996


Foofaraw is perhaps from Spanish fanfarrón, "a braggart."

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