TAWDRY

PRONUNCIATION: (TAW-dree)

MEANING: adjective: Cheap, showy, and gaudy.

ETYMOLOGY: Short for tawdry lace, a contraction of St Audrey lace. The story goes that Æthelthryth (c. 636-679 CE), also known as Etheldreda and Audrey, loved fine silk laces in her youth. She died of a throat tumor which she considered a punishment for her fondness of necklaces. She was a queen, but later became a nun, and eventually a saint. Cheap laces sold in St Audrey’s Fair in Ely, England, came to be known as St Audrey lace, and eventually shrank to tawdry lace. Earliest documented use: 1612. Also see, trumpery.
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PAWDRY - what you do for your dog after the rain

TAPDRY - get the good last drop out of the keg

T AWRY - T