junque

n. items portrayed as or imagined to be more valuable than they are, such as old objects treated as antiques, junk bonds promoted as safe investments, etc. Subjects: English, Colloquial

Editorial Note: Often used jocularly. Etymological Note: Probably fashioned from junk + antique.

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Citations: [1916 Boston Daily Globe (Massachusetts) (June 29) “So They Say” p. 14: Some pote, evidently, is learning the gentle art of typewriting, for we find this in the mail: Take 4 SPools & aN olD Tin Kann,/’N th’ HanDle offa FryIng PAnn;/IO lbs of Junque FrUm Nissinow,/PutT iN Sum GaSS, & leT hEr go!] 1955 San Mateo Times (California) (Mar. 10) (in classifieds) p. 26: Antiques—Junque—Bric-A-Brac. 1955 Bridgeport Sunday Post (Connecticut) (July 17) (in classifieds) p. C11: Do You Need Money? Bring Your Antique “Junque” To Honest John; Barnum Swap Shop. 1963 Ray Vicker Wall Street Journal (May 23) “Themes and Variations: Antiques and Junque” p. 18: (title) 1965 Robert Cromie Chicago Tribune (Jan. 10) “Guide for the Unmoneyed Collector” p. K6: One of the purposes of the book is to help you distinguish junk from junque. 1985 John Hinterberger Seattle Times (Washington) (June 16) “Hostile Raiders—Buying Everything With Nothing” p. 5: My baseball team, my rinky-dink network that covers all of greater Atlanta, my boat and 60 zillion in junque bonds. 1989 J.E. McReynolds Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) (Sept. 26) “Junk Mail Delivers Odd Offer” p. 13: There is junk mail and there is junque mail, the classy kind whose entertainment value far exceeds its bulk rate status. 1990 John F. Sherry Jr. Journal of Consumer Research (June) “A Sociocultural Analysis Of A Midwestern American Flea Market” vol. 17, no. 1, p. 13: “Rummage” is a highly discretionary adjective that overlaps with the category of “junque,” itself an emic descriptor connoting a distinction achieved through disrepair or neglect. 2006 Scott Calhoun Arizona Star (Tucson) (July 23) “This gardener’s creed: Waste not”: The pots made from old gasoline cans and decorated with “flowers” made from reused stove knobs give you an idea of just how passionate Little is about gardening with, as she calls it, “junque.”

Posted 28 Jul 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend