Also spelt fol-de-rol, falderol or falderal, it was the word Brother Mace used during Quest 7 of Series 5 when referring to the jester's stick belonging to Motley (an item that the team needed to succeed, but were not carrying). Articles in The Eye Shield fanzine have used folderol in the same context.

However, Brother Mace had misused the word. Dictionaries define a folderol as a nonsense song refrain (e.g. "I'm a troll, fol-de-rol", as sung by the Troll in Quest 12 of Series 2) or a playful triviality. It simply does not mean a jester's stick, a correct term for which is bauble.

During Quest 11 of Series 2, Lillith called Folly's bauble a "foolish folderol", as its incessant laughter was annoying her. Again, this usage contradicts every available dictionary, and "foolish folderol" should therefore be regarded as convenient alliteration incorporating a general term, rather than specific terminology; no more accurate than if Lillith had called the bauble a 'trifling trinket' or a 'silly stick'.

[Previous version: 2007-10-16 15:35:09]

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