as in rhetoric
language marked by abstractions, jargon, euphemisms, and circumlocutions
instead of simply denying our request, the mayor's representative gave us a song and dance about legal issues and municipal liability
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of song and dance
Not his first blockbuster deal This isn’t Gore’s first time doing the song and dance of being traded.
—
Sportsday Staff, Dallas Morning News, 22 Jan. 2026
Just stop with this whole song and dance between Kuminga and Steve Kerr.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
The Shakers, as they’ll eventually be named, channel the holy spirit via song and dance.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Dec. 2025
New Year's Eve is just around the corner, and what's a more Nashville way to ring in 2026 than through song and dance?
—Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 26 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for song and dance
Sportsday Staff, Dallas Morning News, 22 Jan. 2026
Just stop with this whole song and dance between Kuminga and Steve Kerr.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
The Shakers, as they’ll eventually be named, channel the holy spirit via song and dance.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Dec. 2025
New Year's Eve is just around the corner, and what's a more Nashville way to ring in 2026 than through song and dance?
—Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 26 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for song and dance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for song and dance
Noun
-
For all Magyar’s rhetoric, his politics do not actually represent a comprehensive break from Orbán.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
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Orban’s enduring support stems from tangible benefits — utility discounts, pension supplements — alongside nationalist rhetoric emphasizing Hungary’s traditions, regional pride, and external threats such as Ukraine’s war that resonate deeply with rural and elderly voters.—
Justin Spike,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There is a lot of rigmarole there that is conveniently hidden when positing this as a common sense thing.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Mar. 2026
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To think there was ever a world in which Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni settled out of court, or worse yet, went to court in March of this year so that, by the time this blog post is being written, they might almost be done with the whole rigamarole.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Meaningless gobbledygook to an outsider, yet powerful to those who know how to wield those sounds properly.—
Noel Murray,
Vulture,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Bob Kring DeBary Congressional bill is full of greed The Great Big Beautiful Bill reads like 950 pages of of gobbledygook distilled into four words: Greedy, stingy, mean and short-sighted.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 July 2025
Noun
-
But regardless of whether Mythos lives up to its hype, industry experts largely agree that a period of reckoning is likely coming soon, when hackers will be able to use AI to give them more of an advantage over their victims than ever before.—
Kevin Collier,
NBC news,
11 Apr. 2026
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This was a hellacious heavyweight matchup that lived up to the hype.—
Scott Wheeler,
New York Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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And these worlds aren’t even real, just ones and zeros merged to form a network of communication that sometimes feels like incoherent gibberish.—
Brandon Kaipo Moningka,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Legal gibberish Let’s start with those last two words.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Driving the news: The statement was published only in English on the Facebook page of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office — potentially another case of double-talk by Netanyahu.—
Barak Ravid,
Axios,
27 Sep. 2024
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The GOP Senate candidate in Arizona, whose brand is a combative, never-back-down MAGA politics, has adopted a position on the issue that is nearly indistinguishable from that of double-talking Democrats.—
Rich Lowry,
National Review,
14 Apr. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Song and dance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/song%20and%20dance. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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