mirliton oor Xhosa

A buzzword created to refer to and advertise a new women's bonnet style (AKA "coiffure de gaze" as seen in the early 19th century French painting Portrait De Jeune Femme (En Coiffure De Gaze) by Henri Pierre-Louis Grevedon see here) of 1723 involving a gauzy cloth or net for which the word was invented. Within months, comedies of the time created songs and verses using the new word to make light of political and social leaders. The word gained the meaning sense as a catch-all phrase such that it might refer to any silly trifle or thing of little value or merit as in the English word folderol.Le Mirliton enchanteur: Historique d’un mot à la mode en 1723 by Hans Mattauch From there, it acquired more serious, specific usages.