Word: shams
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...warning to this effect is given in the foreword: "the nobility and gentry are cautioned that they are here in the presence of no band of passionate altruists . . . The editors are committed to nothing save this--to keep to common sense as fast as they can, to belabor sham as agreeably as possible...
...nobility and gentry are cautioned that they are here in the presence of no band of passionate altruists. . . . The editors are committed to nothing save this: to keep to common sense as fast as they can, to belabor sham as agreeably as possible, to give a civilized entertainment...
Where the word "hokum" came from is clear enough. "Hocus pocus" is a veteran in good standing, meaning " to trick, sham or cheat." Obviously it crept into the theatrical vocabulary through the realization that presenting a new play, skit or act full of old stuff is in a sense cheating the audience...
...first night of the encampment, the old soldiers saw a sham battle by new soldiers (Wisconsin National Guardsmen), repelling a landing party from the Great Lakes Naval Training Station...
...have been given German soldiers to endow them with supernormal energy was sodium dihydrogen phosphate. This salt was administered in the form of a drink to the shock troops as they entered battle or during long marches. For psychological reasons other battalions were served with a sham stimulant at the same time, acidulated with tartaric instead of phosphoric acid...