flummery
    n 1: a bland custard or pudding especially of oatmeal
    2: meaningless ceremonies and flattery [syn: mummery,
       flummery]

Flummery \Flum"mer*y\, n. [W. llumru, or llumruwd, a kind of
   food made of oatmeal steeped in water until it has turned
   sour, fr. llumrig harsh, raw, crude, fr. llum sharp, severe.]
   1. A light kind of food, formerly made of flour or meal; a
      sort of pap.
      [1913 Webster]

            Milk and flummery are very fit for children.
                                                  --Locke.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Something insipid, or not worth having; empty compliment;
      trash; unsubstantial talk of writing.
      [1913 Webster]

            The flummery of modern criticism.     --J. Morley.
      [1913 Webster]

Sowens \Sow"ens\ (? or ?), n. pl. [Scottish; cf. AS. se['a]w
   juice, glue, paste.]
   A nutritious article of food, much used in Scotland, made
   from the husk of the oat by a process not unlike that by
   which common starch is made; -- called flummery in England.
   [Written also sowans, and sowins.]
   [1913 Webster]