The 14th cent. form gibecrake is perhaps connected with Old French giber to shake (see jib v.2); the primary sense may have been ‘a slight or flimsy ornament’. (For the change to the nasalized forms, compare modern French regimber = Old French regibber to kick.) The second element may be connected in some way with crack n. or crack v. Sense A. 3 is perhaps in part due to association of the word with gim adj. and crack n.
A. n.
1. App. applied to some kind of inlaid work in wood. Obs.
2.a. A fanciful notion; also, a ‘dodge’, underhand design (obs.).
b. A mechanical contrivance; also pl. scientific apparatus.
c. Now usually applied to a showy, unsubstantial thing; esp. to a useless ornament, a trumpery article, a knick-knack.
3. An affected showy person, a fop; in later use applied to women. (A term of contempt.) Obs.
B. adj.Trivial, worthless; showy but unsubstantial; trumpery. (OED)
"None of these flamboyant goings on are part of Dick’s story, which is called 'Adjustment Team.' Dick’s central character is a contentedly married real-estate agent, who inadvertently witnesses the guardians halting and changing a little piece of life. After being warned by a tired bureaucrat in the heavens to keep his mouth shut, he returns, with relief, to his ordinary life. The story has a wryly sardonic cast: there are no heroes. The writer-director George Nolfi, by literalizing and supercharging what Dick sketched out, and adding gimcrack history and theology, has made a strenuously silly digital-action film, interrupted by a wheezing discourse about freedom and choice and other such profound matters."
- David Denby, "Control Yourself: 'The Adjustment Bureau' and 'Unknown'", 7 March 2011 The New Yorker
1 comment:
"Strenuously silly" is EXACTLY how I would describe "The Adjustment Bureau." I shake my fist at you, David Denby, for being so accurate!
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