World Languages Lexicon
10 Language-to-English DictionariesFlam
/flæm/Comprehensive Definitions & Senses
2 senses- 1
An untruth, deceit, hoax, or nonsense.
"His elaborate excuse about the delayed project turned out to be a mere flam." - 2
A rudiment in drumming consisting of a single stroke preceded by a very low grace note played by the opposite hand.
"The snare drummer executed a series of crisp flams to open the march."
Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology
Originating in the mid 18th century as slang or cant, 'flam' is likely a shortening of 'flummery' or possibly of Scandinavian origin (such as Old Norse 'flenna' to grin or mock). It historically denoted a deception, hoax, or idle story before also acquiring a specialized musical sense in drumming.
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10 Global Lexicons: How "Flam" is said worldwide
Click any language below to open its dedicated Language to English dictionary page with native script & transliteration
canulard
Transliteration: ka.ny.laʁ
"Cette histoire n'est qu'un canulard."
Schwindel
Transliteration: ˈʃvɪndəl
"Seine ganze Erklärung war nur ein Schwindel."
bufala
Transliteration: ˈbu.fa.la
"Quella notizia si è rivelata una bufala."
patraña
Transliteration: paˈtɾa.ɲa
"Todo lo que dijo es una patraña."
falácia
Transliteration: faˈla.si.ɐ
"Aquela promessa não passa de uma falácia."
धोखा
Transliteration: dhokhā
"उसकी सारी बातें केवल एक धोखा थीं।"
骗局
Transliteration: piàn jú
"他编造的故事完全是一个骗局。"
거짓말
Transliteration: geojitmal
"그의 주장은 명백한 거짓말이었다."
作り話
Transliteration: tsukuribanashi
"彼の説明は単なる作り話にすぎない。"
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