Word of the Day for Tuesday April 4, 2006 brummagem

brummagem \BRUHM-uh-juhm\, adjective:Cheap and showy, tawdry; also, spurious, counterfeit.

• But demanding that publishers replace their brummagem wares with books which embody Kunin's "high standards of excellence" would be a promising -- and cost-free -- way to begin.-- Betty McCollister, "A Conspiracy of Good Intentions: America's Textbook Fiasco", Humanist, November-December, 1993
• The distortions they bring on damage society and fuel defiant behavior, encouraging everything from immigrations to the Cayman Islands, to active distortions of reality through brummagem corporate filings.-- William F. Buckley, Jr., "Reforming the Rich", National Review, January 20, 2006

Brummagem is an alteration of Birmingham, England, from the counterfeit groats produced there in the 17th century.