flim·sy (fl m z )adj. flim·si·er, flim·si·est 1. Light, thin, and insubstantial: a flimsy fabric. 2. Lacking solidity or strength: a flimsy table. 3. Lacking plausibility; unconvincing: a flimsy excuse. n. pl. flim·sies 1. Thin paper usually used to make multiple copies. 2. Something written on this thin paper. [Origin unknown.] flim si·ly adv.flim si·ness n. |
Flimsiness
band-aid treatment Temporary, inadequate patching over of a major difficulty demanding radical treatment; makeshift or stopgap measures which temporarily relieve a problem without solving it. Band-aid is a trade name for a small adhesive bandage used on minor cuts and scrapes. The expression is American slang and apparently of fairly recent coinage.
half-baked Insufficiently planned or prepared, not well thought out, ill-considered; unrealistic, flimsy, unsubstantial, incomplete; sloppy, shoddy, crude; not thorough or earnest. It is easy to see how the literal sense of half-baked ‘undercooked, doughy, raw’ gave rise to the figurative sense of ‘inadequately prepared or planned.’ The use of this term in its figurative sense dates from the early 17th century. The expression appeared in this passage from Nation Magazine (August 1892):
The half-baked measures by which politicians try so hard to cripple the Australian system.
house of cards Any insecure or unsubstantial structure, system, or scheme subject to imminent collapse; also castle of cards. The allusion is to the card-castles or houses children often build, only to blow them down in one breath a few moments later.
Painted battlements … of prelatry, which want but one puff of the King’s to blow them down like a paste-board house built of court-cards. (John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church Discipline in England, 1641)
jerry-built Cheaply made, poorly constructed, flimsy, unsubstantial, slapdash, haphazard, makeshift. The most plausible of the many theories as to the origin of this term relates it to the Jerry Brothers, Builders and Contractors of Liverpool, England, in the early 19th century. This company was apparently so notorious for its rapidly and cheaply constructed, though showy, houses that its name became synonymous with inferior, shoddy building practices. Of British origin, this expression dates from at least 1869.
It would soon be overspread by vulgar jerry-built villas. (George C. Brodrick, Memories and Impressions, 1900)
jury-rigged Makeshift, stopgap, temporary; a nautical term applied to a ship that leaves port partially, rather than fully- or ship-rigged, with rigging to be completed at sea; or to one temporarily rigged as a result of disablement. Though the jury has been said to derive from the French jour ‘day’ (hence rigged for the/a day only), the OED says the origin is unknown.
rope of sand Something of no permanence or binding power; an ineffective, uncohesive union or alliance; a weak, easily broken bond or tie. The phrase, of British origin, has been used metaphorically since the 17th century to describe worthless agreements, contracts, etc.
Sweden and Denmark, Russia and Prussia, might form a rope of sand, but no dependence can be placed on such a maritime coalition. (John Adams, Works, 1800)
| Noun | 1. | flimsiness - the property of weakness by virtue of careless construction weakness - the property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain; "his weakness increased as he became older"; "the weakness of the span was overlooked until it collapsed" |
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