Definition of "folderol"
folderol
noun
countable and uncountable, plural folderols
(uncountable) Nonsense or foolishness.
Quotations
[The librarian] rang the bell at nine. I hurried over to Philosophy and grabbed anything. It was another Nietzsche: Man and Superman. I knew that would get her. Before stamping it, she flipped a few pages. "My!" she said. "What books you read!" I said, "Haw. That's nothing. I never read folderol." She smiled good night.
1985, John Fante, The Road to Los Angeles
In this confrontation with the magic of science and the magic of folderol, it is almost impossible not to side with the magic of folderol, and the silly, but relatively benign, Merlin.
1992, Donald L. Hoffman, “Mark's Merlin: Magic vs. Technology in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court”, in Sally K. Slocum, editor, Popular Arthurian Traditions, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, page 52
“To say the essay has 'development of ideas' is absolute folderol.”“I beg your pardon?” Maria asked.“Folly,” he explained pedantically. “Poppycock. Gibberish.”“I know what folderol means,” Maria said. “I just think you better watch what you say.”
2009, Todd Farley, Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, page 48
(countable) A decorative object of little value; a trifle or gewgaw.
Quotations
And they made a mistake there: the prizes were a lot of folderols and doodads like poetry books and illustrated Testaments, instead of something a real live kid would want to work for, like real cash or a speedometer for his motor cycle.
1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, page 215