Fabian tactics (set phrase) = (of a battle strategy) wearing out an opponent by strategies such as delay and evasion – rather than by direct confrontation (as exemplified by Fabius, a Roman general) (pronounced ‘fey-bee-uhn’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Rather than tiring out his opponent with Fabian tactics, Mike Tyson often went for the knock-out punch
The phrase ‘Fabian tactics’ derives from the name of a renowned Roman general, called ‘Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus’ (280–203 BC), who was also known as ‘Fabius the Delayer’ (‘Fabius Cunctator’).
After the military genius Hannibal – leader of Carthage (now Tunisia in North Africa) – defeated the Roman army at Cannae in 216 BC, Fabius prevented Hannibal’s hordes from conquering Rome by wearing down the invaders with a series of tactics, rather than by confronting them directly in battle. Hannibal was in a strange land with a large army that had to be nourished, and without any aid from outside; so Fabian, knowing he’d lose any direct scrap with Hannibal, instead attacked the troops Hannibal had send out to scavenge for food, weakening his foe this way.
Some of his own side saw this behaviour of Fabius’s as being cowardly and he was replaced with another general who was prepared to engage Hannibal directly in battle. But – just as Fabius had foreseen – this resulted in huge losses for Rome; and soon Fabius was reinstalled as leader. For the rest of the war, Fabius’s tactics were followed and Rome was saved. Suddenly Fabius’s sobriquet of ‘Cunctator’ (‘the delayer’), which had been given to him in mockery, assumed a mantle of respectability. Today, anyone who uses delaying tactics in any battle – military or metaphorical – can be said to be employing ‘Fabian tactics’. (One famous modern-day proponent is ‘The Fabian Society’, a think tank that, within the battlefield of political ideologies, advocates the gradual, and thus, Fabius-style adoption of socialism – as opposed to the revolutionary, overnight implementation of socialism advocated by Marxists and Trotskyists.)
fandango (noun) = silly nonsense (pronounced ‘fan-dang-go’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Kate and William’s holidays abroad are accompanied by the usual fandango of paparazzi and photographers
A ‘fandango’ is an elaborate Spanish dance originating in the 18th century; the Spanish ‘fandango’ derives from the Portuguese ‘fado’, meaning ‘sad song’.
This courtship dance is performed by a couple who move together closely and provocatively. Traditionally, their dancing is accompanied by hand-clapping, guitars and tambourines. Overall, the effect is quite extravagant – and, to some people, doubtless a bit over the top; hence the word ‘fandango’ at some point assumed its current metaphorical significance of ‘silly nonsense’.
farrago (noun) = a hodgepodge (pronounced ‘fuh-rah-go’) from the Latin, farrago: mix of grains (to feed animals), from far: corn
e.g. Their divorce started off amicably, but soon become a farrago of accusation and counter-accusation
Fauvist (adj.) = (of a painting) containing simple shapes and exaggerated colours (pronounced ‘fohv-ist’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. As we went around the exhibition, my date described the paintings – which consisted of a few squiggles against a bright red and blue backdrop – as Fauvist
‘Fauvist’ is a good one to know when you’re touring an art gallery and trying to impress a member of the opposite sex: you can use it of just about any painting which contains exaggerated colours, and simple shapes (usually with clear, black contours around them).
As a movement, ‘Fauvism’ was founded by Henri Matisse in Paris, and only lasted from 1904–8, and – like so many movements – it was largely a reaction to a previous one: in this case, Impressionism, which focused on very realistic, true-to-life (and certainly not exaggerated) renditions of shapes and colours (with Monet and Manet being perhaps the most prominent exponents of Impressionism).
The term ‘Fauvist’ derives from the French, ‘fauve’: ‘a wild beast’. This was because of an incident in 1905 at a gallery featuring Matisse’s work, when a famous French art critic exclaimed, of a plain Renaissance-type statue in the midst of the very un-plain, colourful works by Matisse, ‘Donatello au milieu des fauves!’ (which means, ‘Donatello among the wild beasts!’). The phraseology of this insult – which likened Matisse’s works to the ‘wild beasts’ (or ‘fauves’) – stuck, and Matisse’s movement became known as ‘Fauvist’.
favela (noun) = a slum (pronounced ‘fah-ve-lah’) from the Portuguese, favela: a Brazilian shanty town
e.g. The city of Rome is allegedly now so lawless that it resembles one giant favela, where shoot-outs are commonplace
fealty (to) (noun) = (of a subordinate) loyalty (to) (as sworn to a lord by a ‘vassal’, see ‘vassal’ later on) (pronounced ‘fee-uhl-tee’) from the Old French, fealte, from the Latin, fidelitas: faithfulness
e.g. Democrats have long suspected the Republicans of fealty to oil barons
federalism (noun) = (of government) a central authority presiding over self-governing units from the Latin, foedus, foederis: covenant, from fides: faith
e.g. Some commentators have suggested federalism as a solution to the European crisis, with a German-controlled hub overseeing all the other countries
to have feet of clay (set phrase) = (of a person in high station) to have a character flaw for full explanation, see box below
e.g. After the Monica Lewinsky scandal, some whispered that then-President, Bill Clinton, had feet of clay
The phrase ‘feet of clay’ originates from the Bible – specifically, from the Book of Daniel.
In this book, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (modern-day Iraq) experiences a terrifying dream in which he envisages a huge metal statue that is composed entirely of strong metal – except for its feet, which are ‘partially clay’. The brittle, ‘clay’ element of these feet makes Nebuchadnezzar realise the statue is vulnerable and will, one day, fall; and indeed, as the dream unfolds, a massive stone strikes the statue at its feet, and it smashes to smithereens.
Once awake, King Nebuchadnezzar reacts to this dream by calling together his court: unless they can explain what his dream means, the king wil have his mystic interpreters executed. Hearing this, the prophet Daniel seeks divine inspiration, then delivers his verdict: the dream means that King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom is – like the statue in the dream – in danger of destruction, but by unforeseen opponents (represented by the stone in the dream). Nebuchadnezzar agrees with Daniel’s interpretation, and Daniel’s reward is to become chief governor of Babylon. The phrase ‘feet of clay’ persists today, to describe someone who – like the statue in the king’s dream – has a fundamental flaw after all.
feint (noun) = a feigned appearance (pronounced ‘faint’) from the French, feindre: to feign; a ‘feint’ literally means ‘that which is feigned’ and originally referred to a pretend thrust in fencing
e.g. His air of nonchalance was a feint to conceal his overwhelming ardour for her
fiat money (set phrase) = paper money issued by a government – but which cannot be converted into something real, like gold (‘fiat’ is pronounced ‘fee-aht’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. When you realise that the note in your wallet is merely fiat money – and can never be exchanged for something real like gold – then money seems an illusion
The phrase ‘fiat money’ comes from the Latin, ‘fiat’: ‘let it be done’, from ‘fieri’: ‘to be done’. ‘Fiat money’ has no intrinsic value (i.e. it cannot be converted into gold): in fact, the only reason it is worth anything at all is as a result of a government law (which is also called a ‘fiat’). ‘Fiat money’ originated in 11th-century China; in modern times, since 1971 all major world currencies have been ‘fiat money’.
To take the example of the United States (still the world’s biggest economy), between 1944 and 1971, the dollar was directly convertible to a fixed amount of gold (as a result of an agreement signed by all 44 Allied nations, whose currencies were then all tied to the dollar to ensure global stability after the war). This was all great, until the early 1970s, when the United States – crippled by the cost of the Vietnam War (1955–75) – started to print more dollars as a way out of its economic difficulties.
Concerned by the resulting inflation emanating from the United States, the other Allied nations gradually dropped out of the accord signed in 1944 (with inflation-wary West Germany being the first member to unilaterally leave). Then, to put a stop to this inflation – that was making the cost of goods unpalatable to so many around the world (because every country’s currency was inflating higher alongside the dollar) – on 15 August 1971, the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the dollar to gold. With one stroke, ‘the Breton Woods system’ (the name for the agreement signed in 1944) was at an end – and the dollar had, overnight, become ‘fiat money’. (Incidentally, since President Nixon made this decision without consulting other countries, the international community informally named this episode ‘the Nixon shock’.)
to filibuster (verb) = (of politicians) to use delaying tactics – especially long, irrelevant speeches – to delay progress in making certain laws (pronounced ‘fil-uh-buhs-ter’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Any attempts by the Democrats to limit gun ownership are often derailed by Republican filibustering
‘to filibuster’ derives from the Spanish ‘filibustero’, used to describe 16th-century pirates who pillaged Spanish colonies in the West Indies; by 1850, the noun had evolved to describe the tactics of those who ‘pirated’ debate in the US Senate.
‘filibustering’ has a long tradition: one of the earliest known practitioners of ‘the filibuster’ was the Roman senator Cato the Younger (95–46 BC). If he opposed a legislation, Cato would often obstruct the surrounding debate by speaking non-stop until nightfall. As the Roman Senate required all business to conclude by dusk, Cato’s purposefully long-winded speeches were an effective device to delay a vote.
Modern day examples are rife. For example, in the United Kingdom, on Friday 20 April 2007, a bill – aimed at making politicians immune from ‘The Freedom of Information Act’ (which is designed to allow the public ‘right of access’ to information held by public authorities) – was ‘filibustered’ by a collection of MPs, led by Liberal Democrats Simon Hughes and Norman Baker, who debated for five hours non-stop, thereby ensuring time ran out for that particular parliamentary day (and that the bill was postponed until another day).
filigree (noun) = an intricate branching pattern (often in gold ornamentation) (pronounced ‘fil-i-gree’) from the Italian, filigrana, from the Latin, filum: thread + granum: seed
e.g. I got out of the sea and lay in the sun; and after a while, I noticed on my arm a white filigree of dried sea salt
fin de siècle (set phrase) = (of a situation) decadent, set against the backdrop of an approaching end (pronounced ‘fahn duh see-ek-luh’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Knowing he was days away from leaving office, the President commissioned a ‘no expenses spared’ party in the White House, reflecting the ‘fin de siècle’ atmosphere in the building
The expression ‘fin de siècle’ is the French for ‘end of the century’. It originally referred to the closing years of the 19th century in France, regarded as a time for breaking free from traditional social and moral norms. These closing years were also part of ‘La Belle Époque’ (1890–1914), an immensely fertile period marked by the creation of The Eiffel Tower, the automobile, the discovery of both Matisse and Picasso and the perfecting of the drink champagne.
These final few years of the 19th century were characterised both by despair (at the ending of one century), but also by hope (at the beginning of another): feelings exasperated by the knowledge that the best part of a culturally vibrant period (‘La Belle Époque’) had passed. The other emotions prominent in France at this time – which remain common to the atmosphere of any ‘fin-de-siècle’ period – were: boredom, cynicism and despair – that such negative emotions should be the result of the previous years of such cultural achievement.
In a broader sense, the expression ‘fin de siècle’ is now used to characterise any time period that has an ominous mixture of extravagance and decadence, combined with the backdrop of some approaching ‘end’. (But the main thing to note is that ‘fin de siècle’ refers not to the end itself but to the feeling of anticipating this finale.)
firmament (noun) = the heavens from the Latin, firmamentum: a support, from firmus: firm, a translation of the Hebrew (in the Old Testament), raqia: the roof of the heavens (and also the floor of the earth)
e.g. Bob Dylan is widely acknowledged as one of the great stars in the music firmament
flashpoint (noun) = (metaphorical in meaning) a hotspot from the words flash + point
e.g. The Middle East has long been a flashpoint for conflict
flotsam and jetsam (set phrase) = a collection of objects or people of little importance (pronounced ‘flot-suhm’ and ‘jet-suhm’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. Some art critics describe today’s artists as charlatans, objecting to their collecting the flotsam and jetsam of life, throwing it together and giving it a pseudo-intellectual title like ‘archipelago’
‘flotsam’ and ‘jetsam’ are both terms used of goods discharged from a ship.
In the case of ‘flotsam’, the goods have been discharged by accident owing to a shipwreck. (‘Flotsam’ derives from the Anglo–Norman French, ‘floteson’, ultimately from the verb ‘floter’: ‘to float’.) ‘Jetsam’, though, refers to those goods that have been intentionally discharged from the ship – to lighten the vessel (which has turned out to be too heavy and is thus in distress). ‘Jetsam’ – which literally means ‘the object that has been thrown overboard’ – derives from the Old French ‘getaison’: ‘a throwing’, which later became ‘jettison’, or ‘the act of throwing overboard’. (Incidentally, the other difference between the two, is that, being heavy, ‘jetsam’ sinks, whereas ‘flotsam’ floats.)
Today the phrase ‘flotsam and jetsam’ is used to refer to any collection of discarded odds and ends.
flyblown (adj.) = (literally or metaporically) tainted
from the verb, to flyblow: to contaminate, especially with the eggs of the blowfly (which then turn into maggots)
e.g. Critics say Monica Lewinisky’s revelations have rendered Bill Clinton’s reputation flyblown
folly (noun) = an over-the-top building (that has no purpose other than as an ornament) from the French, folie: madness, from fol: foolish (in the sense that a ‘folly’ is an indulgent, foolish undertaking); of course, ‘folly’ has another meaning in English: ‘foolishness’
e.g. To some people’s thinking, Big Ben is no more than a glorious folly
footling (adj.) = unimportant from the 19th-century English verb, footle: to idle about, from the Old French, se foutre: to care nothing (literally: to copulate with oneself), from foutre: to copulate with
e.g. A new government does not concern itself with footling details, but in getting the bigger picture right
forebearance (noun) = patient self-restraint from the Old English, forberan: to bear up against, from for- + beran: to bear
e.g. To get through childbirth, women have to draw on reserves of forebearance
foundling (noun) = a child who looks so unlike his parents that it is as if he has been deserted by his real parents and ‘found’ and cared for by strangers (who now claim to be his parents themselves) from the Middle English, found + -ling (a diminutive suffix)
e.g. When the couple – who were both dark-haired – had a child with silver hair, their unkind neighbours jokingly speculated that the baby must be a foundling
frou-frou (adj.) = overly elaborate, like ‘chi-chi’ (pronounced ‘froo-froo’) from the French, frou frou: a 19th-century phrase meant to sound like the rustling an elaborate dress makes as its silk scrapes the floor
e.g. The two housewives met for lunch at a frou-frou café called Belle Amie that served mainly salads and quiches
frowzy (adj.) = slovenly (pronounced ‘frou-zee’) deriving from the Old English word ‘frowsty’, meaning ‘having an unpleasant smell’, itself deriving from the Old French, ‘frouste’: ‘decayed’
e.g. I was forced to hold my nose when the frowzy tramp came and sat next to me on the park bench
to fructify (verb) = to bear fruit (pronounced ‘fruhk-tuh-fahy’) from the Latin, fructificare: to produce fruit, from fructus: fruit
e.g. He was unmarried but wore a wedding ring to business meetings, in the hope that an impression of responsibility might thus fructify in onlookers’ eyes
fugitive (adj.) = fleeting (pronounced ‘fyoo-ji-tiv’) from the Latin, fugere: to flee
e.g. After consuming a bottle of wine, he entertained a fugitive idea of phoning his ex-wife, but luckily fell asleep before he could enact this plan
fulsome (adj.) = excessively flattering; OR full (pronounced ‘fuhl-suhm’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. His neighbour was not prone to compliments, but, after tasting the roast chicken, he became positively fulsome
‘fulsome’ derives from the two Middle English words ‘full’ + ‘some’.
The word’s sense evolved from meaning ‘full’ in the 13th century, to ‘plump’ in the 14th century, then to ‘overfed’ (1640s), and thus, of language, ‘offensive to good taste’ (1660s) – just as an ‘excessively flattering’ statement offends because it is too much.
Since the 1960s, however, it has also been commonly used in its original, 13th-century sense, to mean ‘full’, such as in the phrase ‘the TV cameras offered fulsome coverage of the match’. Some people insist this new, easier-to-remember meaning – which, after all, does hark back to the original meaning from hundreds of years ago – is ‘wrong’.
fungible (adj.) = interchangeable (pronounced ‘fuhn-juh-buhl’) from the medieval Latin, fungi: to perform, as in fungi vice: to take the place of
e.g. Club owners view football players as fungible assets and certainly not as equal business partners
fusillade (noun) = a rapid outburst (pronounced ‘fyoo-suh-laid) from the French, fusiller: to shoot, from fusil (a musket gun) + ade
e.g. At the public enquiry into allegations of phone hacking, Rupert Murdoch was exposed to a fusillade of questions from politicians
fustian (adj.) = (of a speech or writing) pompous (pronounced ‘fuhs-ti-an’) for full explanation, see box below
e.g. At the funeral, the priest didn’t talk about the dead man at all, but instead hijacked the occasion to deliver a fustian speech about ‘community spirit’
‘fustian’ literally means ‘a thick cotton cloth’, which was used as padding for pillows in the 12th century. The word derives from the Latin, ‘fustaneus’, meaning ‘cloth from Fostat (a suburb of Cairo where such cloth was manufactured)’.
With time, the word assumed a more metaphorical meaning, and ‘fustian’ language meant words that were just ‘padding’ (like the ‘padding’ that ‘fustian’ originally provided for the innards of a pillow).
(As an aside, the word ‘bombast’ is very similar, originally referring, in the 16th century, to ‘raw cotton, used as padding’, before evolving in meaning in the same way as ‘fustian’ did, to reference language that is also no more than filling.)