Word of the Day

Sunday, May 07, 2006

pablum

\PAB-luhm\ , noun;

Something (as writing or speech) that is trite, insipid, or simplistic.

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Quotes:

I imagined his thoughts had been solely of me, that the letter would be filled with love sonnets, that it would gush with the same romantic pablum I devoured from those movie star magazines.

-- Kate Walbert, The Gardens of Kyoto

. . .the mindless pablum of celebrity journalism, the endless stories about self-promoting actors and movie stars who pretend they dislike the press.

-- Richard Stengel, "It Ain't Necessarily Bad That Nobody's Interested in Politics", Time, March 2, 2001

Origin:

Pablum comes from Pablum, a trademark used for a bland soft cereal for infants.