phonus bolonus
nounDefinition of phonus bolonus
1 : pretentious falsity : piffle, tripe all the stylish humbug he is fond of calling phonus bolonus — New York Times
2 : chicanery, skulduggery, trickery it was owing to some phonus bolonus on his part that the conflagration had been unleashed— P. G. Wodehouse
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