Four Flushing is a pejorative term that refers to the act of making empty boasts or lying.[citation needed] A person who does this is refered to as a four flusher.[1]
The term four flushing originated in the game of Poker during the 19th century, and it referred to a person who misrepresented that they had a flush—a poker hand comprised of five cards all of one suit (hearts, spades, clubs, or diamonds)—when they only had four cards of one suit.[1][2]
Chevy Chase used the term "four flushing!" in the 1989 film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The term is also used by Pooter-the-Clown, actor Mike Starr, in another film Uncle Buck of the same release year. The phrase is also used in the 1967 Walt Disney version of the Jungle Book. Bagheera the panther calls Baloo the bear a four flusher. James Cagney uses the phrase angrily and sarcastically in the 1955 film Love Me or Leave Me (film). In the 1926 silent film, "The Show Off", the term "four flusher" is used by Louise Brooks to describe her next door neighbor's son-in-law. William S. Burroughs uses the term "four-flusher" to describe some of the characters that populate his first novel, Junkie. Hot Lips Houlihan, played by Loretta Swit, uses it to insult Frank Burns (played by Larry Linville) in the 1973 "M*A*S*H" episode "Dear Dad ... Three". In the 1975 movie The Apple Dumpling Gang (film), Susan Clark's character Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale exclaims, "Don't slick talk me you four flusher!" while chasing her new husband Russel Donavan, played by Bill Bixby, through the town tavern. Bugs Bunny uses the term in the 1948 My Bunny Lies Over The Sea. In the 1922 Harold Lloyd silent film, "Dr. Jack", C. Norman Hammond uses the phrase "a four-flusher!" to describe the doctor in charge of "The Sick-Little-Well-Girl" in the city.[3]
References
- ^ a b "A defense of the four-flusher". New York Times. New York Times Company. 1909-10-08. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ Ruch, John (2002-08-22). "What is the meaning of the term "four-flusher" or "four-flushing"?". Retrieved 2009-03-05.
A four-flusher originally was someone who bluffs or otherwise can't back up his or her bragging
- ^ Dr. Jack Intertitles