Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Puffery
It's the word used by Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) and others for what we call advertising. "Puffery" is shorter than "advertising," but more expressive. "Hype" is shorter than "puffery," but less expressive. "Puffery" calls to mind Aesop's fable (Perry 376) about the frog who wanted to become as big as an ox and inflated himself until he burst.
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